Don't Count Yourself Out

This is a post that I wrote for the guest blogging day of the #blogtemberchallenge on Thursday. I haven't actively participated since the first week because of personal reasons, but I hope to get back into the blogging swing of things soon. 

Photo taken by Alexa in Glorieta, New Mexico, Summer 2013

I hope this finds you in good condition. Me? Well, muscles that I forgot I had are super sore, my leg is all scraped up, and I have a miniature club for a finger.

Flag football got the best of me.

So, typing this with a jammed finger is super difficult. I took the split off and am attempting to type at my normal, fast speed, to no avail. Walking is a special feat, as well. One shin aches from the scrapes I received from sliding on a turf college football field; the other knee is swollen from some other fall during the game. Every muscle is screaming at me just to lay down at watch Criminal Minds or Once Upon a Time (super tempting!). I didn’t realize just how important it was for me to have all of my fingers and limbs functioning properly.

Just as it pains the body when a part of it isn’t working, it effects the body of Christ (the Church, your fellow believers) when its members aren’t working. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” We were all created to be unique, but we all make up one body. Each part of the body has a specific function.

“For the body does not consist of one member but of many,” (1 Cor. 12:14). If an eye served the same purpose as a foot, why would we need it? Each one has a different, vital function to the body, just as each Christian has a vital function in the body of Christ.

Just because you don’t feel the Lord calling you to overseas missions, or to work in a full-time ministry does not mean that He isn’t going to use you. He will use you. Your everyday actions and way you carry yourself speaks volumes. Paul tells the church of Philippi, “only let your manner of life by worthy of the gospel of Christ,” (Philippians 1:27). You may not be called to move to some far off land to live out the Gospel, but that does not give you an excuse not to do so where you’re at right this very moment.

If you’re anything like me, you may have thought, at one point in your life or maybe you currently think, that there is no possible way that the Lord could use you. Well, He will. I never thought that I would be working in Children’s ministry, but here I am, five years after being saved, working at a church at least 3 times as big as the one I attended when I was saved. At the point of my salvation, if you’d asked me if I would be considering attending seminary after I graduate college, I would have laughed at you. The Lord works in ways that we may never see coming beforehand, but we can rest assured knowing that He will work

I’ve just stretched out to see if my muscles still ache (they do, if you’re wondering), and the point to my blog has been driven home in my heart. Though we may be tired, though we may get overworked, or stretched to our limits in our daily Christian walk, we must persevere. Christ conquered the grave, He defeated death. Therefore, take heart and, like Paul, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

If you ever need prayer for any reason, please do not hesitate to let me know. Until next time, stay strong. Keep your head up. Seek the Lord.