I Corinthians 12:14-20 (NIV)
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If
the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the
body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And
if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the
body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If
the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole
body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But
in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he
wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where
would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
It makes me sad every time I
think of years ago when my children were little and needed me for many
things—providing for them, playing with them, protecting them, transporting
them, helping them with school work, teaching them during what I called
“teachable moments” and so much more.
Today they are grown up and don’t need me anymore. Sometimes this makes me feel useless.
People often feel useless---at
work, out-of-work, unchosen, not invited, ignored, untapped, not needed by
anyone. However, I read something
recently (the author was unknown) who nicely pointed out that there’s a big
difference between being useless or being un-used. While you might feel useless, the better way
of looking at it is that you are un-used.
In I Corinthians 12 Paul writes
about the spiritual gifts of God. In
verses 4-6 he states that there are different kinds of gifts, service, and
working, then in verses 7-11 he lists 9 different gifts (other spiritual gifts
are listed in Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:11) In verse 12 he writes that the body is a
unit, made of many parts and then in this passage he elaborates on the meaning
of the body having many parts.
What is he trying to affirm
here? There is no part of the body that
is more important than another part. All
are necessary for a functioning and healthy body. This is true physically for the human body
and also spiritual for the body of Christ, the church. There is no unimportant part, no unimportant
person. So many people feel worthless
sometimes, maybe all the time. Certainly
at times you must feel useless as a worker, professional, parent, neighbor,
church member, whatever and wherever walk of life you are in. You disappoint yourself in your limitations
and failures. When you feel like this,
good ol’ Satan likes to “rub it in” and keep reminding you of your inadequacies
and uselessness. You start truly
believing this lie and the vicious cycle continues.
No, you are not useless in the
eyes of God. No matter how insignificant
you think you are, you are not. You are
God’s creation and He has a purpose for you no matter how old you are, what you
have or have not done in your past, or any excuse you can think of. There are many parts of the body and you are
a part. Remember who God used in the
Bible---Noah
was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Moses had a
stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young,
David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Jonah ran from
God, Peter denied Christ, the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once, yet
God used all these people for His purposes.
He will use you, you are not useless.
I like this prayer from an unknown author: “Father, don’t ever let me allow those I love ever to feel useless”. May this be your prayer too.
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