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I just got off a zoom call with one of my coaching clients and now friend. Her family is going through a medical crisis–it’s looking better, and we are praying for a full recovery–
But she said this thought has kept recurring to her as her family has been keeping vigil at the hospital:
“We really are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
What she meant by that:
Each part is so important.
And if one part stops doing its job or gets compromised the effects can be catastrophic.
Thankfully–the patient’s body is responding and improving and they’re seeing that same principle work in the positive…
But my mind went straight to 1 Corinthians 12.
I live in this passage.
So much of my philosophy and my coaching is built here.
1 Corinthians 12 talks about how God’s Spirit gets expressed through believers, and how we are each “set” in the body of Christ according to
God’s will.
It goes on to beautifully illustrate how we can see how this works by looking at a human body which consists of different parts performing different functions and how every single part is absolutely essential.
This is why I believe it is so important to understand who we are in Christ along with who we just are.
Paul opens this chapter
(and unless I specify otherwise, I’ll be taking the scripture passages I quote from the Message version)
by saying:
“What I want to talk about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives.”
Yes, please. I super want that. 🙋🏻♀️🙌🏻
Paul goes on to say:
“This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable.”
Please. Go back and read that again.
Paul, by God’s Spirit is saying:
I want you to be informed and knowledgeable.
God’s Word is true.
He wants you (and me) to be informed and knowledgeable. 🤯🙌🏻
I don’t mean to be combative, but this (and other) scriptures make me believe that the old adage:
The Lord works in mysterious ways
is a cop-out.
Don’t get me wrong. God is God. None of the rest of us are. We can never fully understand Him on this side of heaven. But if He said that He wants us to be informed and knowledgeable…
And that is backed up by James 1:5 that says if we lack wisdom we should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault.
That tells me God wants us to be wise. The book of Proverbs says in many places how wisdom cries aloud in the streets.
Wisdom wants to be found.
I went on a bit of a tangent there, but think it’s significant that this particular chapter opens by saying–this gets misunderstood but I’m telling you because I want you to understand.
AND this entire chapter is all about how we fit into God’s will and function in His body.
We’re not meant to be clueless about how we fit into this world we’re inhabiting.
“God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere;
But they all originate in God’s Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:4)
This passage talks about some specific spiritual gifts–yes!
But I believe there is nothing we have that didn’t come from God.
The things you are good at and that you enjoy are not random.
And they are not of yourself.
You are blessed in order to be a blessing. (Genesis 12:3)
Later in that same passage it says:
“Each person is given something to do that shows who God is:
Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)
My husband and I are opposite in personality type and in just about every way possible.
But if that verse is to be believed, then Brent’s meticulousness and consistency and natural propensity to be disciplined demonstrate a facet of who God is.
Meanwhile, my tendency to “go with the flow”, follow rabbit trails, and be a dreamer–along with my absolute dogged determination to figure myself and others out shows a different facet of who God is.
We’ve been given different strengths and talents and propensities because we have different roles to play–but look what that same chapter from 1 Corinthians has to say about that:
“I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together…No part is important on its own.”
My friend’s family member–one thing went wrong in that person’s body and its malfunction caused a cascade of issues for the body as a whole. This makes me so thankful that I only very rarely even THINK about my internal organs and can trust that they’re doing their intended jobs like they’re supposed to–that’s how it’s supposed to be.
But if I could get one thought firmly planted in your mind, it’s this:
You matter.
Understanding what you bring and developing it isn’t self-centeredness–
It’s stewardship.
You’re serving the Lord and those around you by fully inhabiting your life.
“You are Christ’s body–that’s who you are! You must never forget this.
Only as you accept your part of that body does your ‘part’ mean anything.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
Acting like you don’t matter–letting comparison, unworthiness, and self-doubt call the shots for you–doesn’t just make you miserable. It keeps you from accepting your part. And puts strain on others, too.
Years back I had surgery on my wrist. The doctor said it would be no big deal. I could expect a quick and full recovery. There was this pretty small cyst that had formed–nothing serious, but it made my wrist sore and putting pressure on it was painful.
I had the “no-big-deal” surgery.
(Spoiler alert–there's no such thing.)
I had to wear a soft-cast for a week or two. A brace for a while longer. And I thought my wrist had been sore and debilitating prior to then, but it was pretty useless post-surgery and for a while.
And as I moved through my recovery, I noticed something a few weeks in.
EVERYTHING had started hurting. I’d never had major issues, but all of a sudden my back, my knees, pretty much the rest of my body was now achy and sore, too.
I realized–my entire body was now working overtime to make up for that wrist that couldn’t lift, bend or do any of its regular jobs.
I’ll share one last portion of 1 Corinthians 12:
“If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.”
Showing up fully for my life–not in pride, but in absolute humility–saying,
“Lord, this is the life You gave me so help me to steward it well and to give to it everything I have.”
I truly believe that’s what we’re made to do. And it actually helps those around us flourish, too!
Helping people see that and see themselves through that lens is what I believe I’m called to do.
So–
Back to where we started.
My friend. Her family member.
We talked through what we wanted to ask of the Lord. What would be the optimal outcome we wanted to ask for?
We named everything we could think of. And we prayed.
And as my friend got ready to go back to the hospital, she said, “This is what I do best.”
She said so without even a trace of pride. We’ve done the work together and she knows. She loves taking care of people. Ministering to their immediate needs. Helping out. Being there. And she’s good at it and takes pleasure in serving in that way.
Those are the words of someone who has accepted their “part” and is choosing to show up fully.
There she was–right in the middle of something hard and scary, knowing exactly what she could bring to the situation.
Not because she can fix everything.
Not because she has all the answers.
Not even because she really particularly wants to be there, because of course, she’d much rather none of this was even happening.
But even so, she knows how to show up fully because she knows who she is.
She knows what God has put in her.
And she knows how to be used by God to love and serve the people around her.
That’s what I would call accepting your part!
And just like the scripture said:
Everyone gets in on it and everybody around her benefits.
I just love that.
And I want that for you, too!
Hugs,
Mary
P.S. What would make you say, “This is what I do best”?
I'd love to know! It's often not the thing we do that's most visible to others—and sometimes it's not even WHAT we do, but HOW we do it.
Hit reply. I'd love to hear how you're leaning into your gifts and talents! ❤️
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