totallylovedbygod65
Member
Pieces
(By: Deborah Durrett)
As my husband and I were working on another early stage of converting a cargo trailer into a small living quarters for travel –among other things- we felt like we were in the land of confusion, with pieces of a puzzle everywhere. With three adjacent spaces in which to work-depending on the actions needed-we had trouble locating tools and miscellaneous items to work efficiently. And as a result, by the third day, we got tired and had little energy to reorganize - but decided it was imperative we do it, anyway. In order to get all the pieces of our puzzle properly placed, we had to have the tools organized so they would be best able to help us get the work completed excellently.
God made each of us with specificity-gifts, talents-skills if you will. He knows how each of our minds work, what we enjoy, and how to utilize all of it for good and for joy. We can partner with Him to achieve the work of completed excellency as well as having a good life along the way. Taking time to put our tools back in the proper order to be effective will help us do that. Like a build job requiring many tools and pieces to make it a whole unit, there are many facets to our lives in the here and now. We grow, we learn, we work, we learn some more, we teach, we build, we share, we love like the Father loves us, and God can help us with our build-from the inside out. He may need to sharpen, rearrange, clean up parts of us, we may be finished with aspects of what we do or once did, alter aspects of where we go- who we are with- yet the entirety of tools and pieces for it all will be provided. We do not have to do everything on our own. What seems like a random meeting with someone or the timing on a provision to enable us to make something happen is usually no coincidence at all. I have experienced it over and over in forty plus years of accepting God’s help. We are not just pieces of a puzzle-we are important pieces of our creator.
“For the body is not one part, but many. If the foot says, ‘Since I’m not a hand, I’m not part of the body,’ is it therefore not part of the body? And if the ear says, ‘Since I’m not an eye, I’m not part of the body,’ is it for this reason any less part of the body?” (I Corinthians 12:14-16) TLV)
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole [body] were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now [as things really are], God has placed and arranged the parts of the body, each one of them, just as He willed and saw fit [with the best balance of function]. (1 Corinthians 12: 17-18 AMP)
“If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body? But as it is, there are many parts - but one body.” (1 Corinthians 12: 19-20 CEB)
“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24 ESV)
“My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father-that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe [without any doubt, AMP) you sent me.” (John 17:21 TLB)
(D. Durrett 4/1/24)
(By: Deborah Durrett)
As my husband and I were working on another early stage of converting a cargo trailer into a small living quarters for travel –among other things- we felt like we were in the land of confusion, with pieces of a puzzle everywhere. With three adjacent spaces in which to work-depending on the actions needed-we had trouble locating tools and miscellaneous items to work efficiently. And as a result, by the third day, we got tired and had little energy to reorganize - but decided it was imperative we do it, anyway. In order to get all the pieces of our puzzle properly placed, we had to have the tools organized so they would be best able to help us get the work completed excellently.
God made each of us with specificity-gifts, talents-skills if you will. He knows how each of our minds work, what we enjoy, and how to utilize all of it for good and for joy. We can partner with Him to achieve the work of completed excellency as well as having a good life along the way. Taking time to put our tools back in the proper order to be effective will help us do that. Like a build job requiring many tools and pieces to make it a whole unit, there are many facets to our lives in the here and now. We grow, we learn, we work, we learn some more, we teach, we build, we share, we love like the Father loves us, and God can help us with our build-from the inside out. He may need to sharpen, rearrange, clean up parts of us, we may be finished with aspects of what we do or once did, alter aspects of where we go- who we are with- yet the entirety of tools and pieces for it all will be provided. We do not have to do everything on our own. What seems like a random meeting with someone or the timing on a provision to enable us to make something happen is usually no coincidence at all. I have experienced it over and over in forty plus years of accepting God’s help. We are not just pieces of a puzzle-we are important pieces of our creator.
“For the body is not one part, but many. If the foot says, ‘Since I’m not a hand, I’m not part of the body,’ is it therefore not part of the body? And if the ear says, ‘Since I’m not an eye, I’m not part of the body,’ is it for this reason any less part of the body?” (I Corinthians 12:14-16) TLV)
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole [body] were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now [as things really are], God has placed and arranged the parts of the body, each one of them, just as He willed and saw fit [with the best balance of function]. (1 Corinthians 12: 17-18 AMP)
“If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body? But as it is, there are many parts - but one body.” (1 Corinthians 12: 19-20 CEB)
“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24 ESV)
“My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father-that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe [without any doubt, AMP) you sent me.” (John 17:21 TLB)
(D. Durrett 4/1/24)