Because of the way our brain functions and our personality dictates, we often put things in different and distinct categories. Each category has its own "file" in our thinking. Men, especially, categorize things in their brain, and many times the categories don't mingle--they are separate. Women, on the other hand, while they may put things in distinct categories, those files mingle with one another and communicate with one another in their brains. The human body, and most especially the brain, is fascinating to study!
So, where am I going with this? It is increasingly interesting to me, as God establishes me in this new church, that there is a place for me here that no one else can fill. That sounds conceited, but follow this with me. I was a member of another church in CT, and before walking away from that place, I was a vital member of that body (at least I think I was!) God established a place for me there and in the ministries I was involved in. He knit my heart with others and we grew together as one body and it was good--great, in fact! And I tucked that away in a category in my brain, considering it to be separate from what I would experience again. Now, at Savannah Christian, God is beginning to do the same thing. Knitting my heart with others, developing relationships and carving out a place for me to serve and minister to others as only I can because of the experiences I have walked through with Christ and without Him (BC). And it too, is good. The difference I am realizing, is that this is not a separate category, it is an extension of the other; this is One Body, whether I am in CT, MA, GA or Guam! My membership, and yours, in the Body of Christ is not separated by the church we belong to or the roles we play within those churches. The body of believers is vast, but we are one in Christ. These are my brothers and sisters. I had just never met them before!
I am so blessed to be part of, again, a body of people who revere and love God. I am excited by the opportunities that are before me in serving the members of this church family and the surrounding community, and I am blown away by the fact that this common thread of belief in Jesus Christ opens the door to relationships like nothing else could. When I left my church in CT, there was much regret and sadness. I missed so many things, but none so much as the fellowship and relationships with other believers. I ached for that and even though I went to a couple of other churches, I longed for those relationships and the kind of love that I had shared with them and known previously.
1 Cor. 12 talks about the Body of Christ and the roles and gifts there in. There is a part of those verses that I prayed back to God for many years and I believe He is now answering... vs. 31 But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way, one that is better by far and the highest of them all---Love. In the years of sifting, after leaving my church, God began to teach me how to love; and though I have not perfected it, I have prayed for the opportunity to share it with another body of believers and with the circle of my influence--the world around me.
For such a time as this! The new thing that God is doing, the new wine of my life poured into the new wineskin; I am here and one with this Body, and it is GOOD! Praise God and to You be the Glory forever and ever. Amen
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