God speaks to us differently. In Psalm 139, David talks about how the Lord knows us so incredibly deeply--far better than we could ever know ourselves. He says in verses 1-3,
"You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways."
The whole psalm is just a reminder that He knows us so well (because He created us), and therefore He loves us better than anyone could and speaks to us clearer than anyone could. While He loves us all the same amount (enough to send His Son to die in our place), I think that He shows us that in different ways. He speaks, not only His love, but His promises and truth into our lives in different ways. He reveals Himself to us in different ways. In ways that speak to us in only the way that one who knows us as deeply as He does could. He speaks to us all through scripture directly, but I think He also reveals Himself in different ways. For me, it is through creation, through music, through metaphors. To others it is other things. But Psalm 139 and the depth of His love for and knowledge of us is proof to me that we are unique. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Reflections of Him. But unique.
We are tempted differently. In Matthew 5, we are told in verses 29 and 30, "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away." I had always just viewed these verses as "get rid of what makes you stumble." I still think that is what the verses are saying, but I read something about these verses that shed a new light on it. The different body parts are mentioned, because there are going to be different things we struggle with. We are each going to sin differently, and therefore we are each going to have to deal with that sin differently. Unique.
So, God was just revealing all over the place how unique we are and how different He makes us. All of this confirmation was leading up to the verses He sent me to in 1 Corinthians. Verses I knew well, but now know even better.
1 Corinthians 12. I've heard and read this chapter many times over the years, but about a month ago the Lord brought it to my attention again, and it really spoke to me, summing up everything else that He'd been showing me.
"12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 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 stop being part of the body. 17 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? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body."
There's a lot lot lot of good stuff there, but I'm going to condense what my thoughts were/are.
We are one body. We have one same mission, as I mentioned before. That unites us all as the body. But if the body is going to work, we have to be different. And that's where all our different paths come into play.
I'm going to be honest, this post and all the places that God led me in scripture came from a point of insecurity and uncertainty in my mission. Over the last year, the Lord has molded me and my desires and passions a lot, and I have come to find how interconnected my artistic passions are with my passions for Christ. He has created me in a unique way, with unique passions, and if those passions are from Him, they absolutely coincide with that one mission that we as believers share.
I have felt very called to be reaching people in the arts world, specifically theatre. So this summer, I spent my time (a LOT of my time) at a theatre, rehearsing for a musical alongside a large cast and crew. And I'll be honest, at first I felt like I was wasting my summer. I believe comparison is something that the enemy uses to hurt the body. I found myself wondering if I could really be serving God as well as the people who spent their summers working camps, working at church, performing in worship bands, going on mission trips, and doing whatever else they might be doing. The answer was a resounding, "YES!" from my Savior.
He needs people at camps, at church, in worship bands, on mission trips, and everywhere else He may call them. But He needs me at the theatre in the same way. He needs me there, pouring His love and truth into those people. What I've learned is that anywhere there are people to be reached with the Gospel, He needs people to take it there. It isn't about which place is "best." Because not a single one is better or "more Christian" than another. It is about listening to His voice and following where He leads. And celebrating each part of the body that is doing what He has called it to. Our community as the body of Christ needs to run deep, and we need to cultivate the grace and truth that can then be carried out in love to the places He leads us to.
So, today I celebrate you. Wherever He has called you to--a camp, overseas, your school, your summer job, the theatre--wherever--be all there. Submerge yourself into His mission and live it. Impact people and allow the Lord to pour into you and overflow into them.
Thankful today and everyday that He leads us where He needs us.
