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Oct 20, 2024 06:00am

Many Parts of the Body

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I awkwardly wandered around the sanctuary.

My family was home.

My son had pink eye, my daughter was getting over a cold and a long week of working through it, and my husband stayed home to take care of the kids.

I felt out of sorts without my people.

I said hello to people and politely responded the casual, “How are ya?” with “Good, good. Thank you, how are you?”

I wasn’t really good, good….but that seemed more appropriate than saying, “I’m really struggling right now. My health has gotten worse, and the limitations that sets on me is really making me lonely and feeling kind of useless.”

A friend I met during a women’s Bible study last year wandered by me alone, gave me a smile and a casual greeting, looking about as awkward as I felt. I stopped her and asked if she would like to sit with me. She gladly agreed, and we found a seat near the back.

We worshiped, and I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s goodness already.

The pastor preached from Acts 9. Within this passage, we are told how God used Peter to perform two miracles. Peter was acting in obedience and mirroring what He had seen Jesus do while he walked with Him during His time on earth.

The first miracle involved Peter healing a paralyzed man named Aeneas in Jesus’ name. Aeneas immediately got up. Scripture says, “So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon (where Lydda was located) saw him and turned to the Lord.” (verse 35)

About this same time, about 11 miles away, in Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek) who got sick and died. Scripture tells us that she was always doing good works and acts of charity. The people with her washed her body and placed her in her room upstairs. The disciples heard that Peter was near, and they sent two men to urge him to come to them without delay. The Bible doesn’t tell us if they sent for Peter in hopes of a miracle for their friend or just to comfort them as they mourned.

We do read that they mourned. The widows gathered at her house, wearing clothes Tabitha made for them. What a sweet tribute. When Peter got there, he found these ladies weeping and showing off the clothes their friend made for them. Peter asked everyone to leave the room, and God allowed Tabitha to be resuscitated through Peter. He took her by the hand, helped her stand up, and called the saints and widows into her room to greet her. God used this to bring many in Joppa to know Him as their Savior.
As I listened to this sermon, it moved me deeply. My health is such that I don’t know how many days God still has written for me-could be lots of years or could be a few. Regardless, over the last year, my health has declined. I had to give up my keys, so I cannot drop surprise treats off at friends’ houses or drive over to help my elderly friend at her house. My mental stamina has dwindled, so I had to step down from serving in the preschool ministry and from meeting with other women for discipleship. I had started feeling much less useful for the Kingdom of Christ.

I longed to live a legacy like Tabitha, to know that I had served others in ways that drew them closer to Christ.

I thought, “Maybe I need to learn to sew and make clothes for people who need them.”

But, a quick recall of the only clothing item I ever made-a dress that sat stiff and unwearable in a closet until it was tossed-left me sure that wasn’t what God wanted me to do with my time.

I silently prayed that God would help me see how He wanted to use me, as I was-remembering that God already knew every limitation I had and that He still had me on this earth for a purpose, which I doubted was sewing. I wept while I sang the closing songs, noticing my friend I sat with seemed to be taking the sermon to heart as much as I was. I hugged her and thanked her for welcoming me into her space as we left the sanctuary.

I remembered the verses from Romans 12, and I was comforted by the confirmation that God had purpose for me, for my friend, for each of us, and those purposes were equally important, even if they felt small to me. “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.”

Through Christ, many parts do certain things well and work together to bring God glory always, just like He very specifically did that day. My friend welcomed me to sit with her and helped me feel less alone. The pastor delivered a message I needed to hear. The choir led us in worship that drew me nearer to my Savior, as the words reminded me of God’s greatness.

And, over the following week, I started asking people how I could pray more specifically for them. I was blown away with how much this blessed me and how much the people I asked seemed relieved to have me join with them in praying over things that wore heavy on their hearts.

God blessed me so much by showing me a way He was allowing me to be used with a different gift than those I had become accustomed to-not in a “smaller” way-just a different way….and no sewing attempts had to be made, thank the Lord-on my account and definitely on account of any possible recipients.