Try it!!!

I had a huge epiphany today.  I realized, that the God I serve can't do everything.  I grew up hearing that He could.  He's everywhere, he KNOWS everything, he SEES everything, he's OVER everything.  But he's not.  I just figured that out today.  Kinda blew my mind a bit.  And guess what? HE is the one that led me to such an awareness.  He told me that...wait for it...that he needed me.  Yeah.  The Creator of the Universe, told me that he needed me.  Me.  I had to read that a few times too.  There are things that he cannot do.  And so he needs me.

In First Corinthians it talks about how we are the body of Christ.  I love how the group Casting Crowns conveys this in their song about this subject. (See the link at the bottom...after you've read this whole post. heehee!)  I think that what they are getting to, is that He needs you and I to hold people. To reach out and show love to and interest in them.  It's the one thing he cannot do.  He cannot, in his perfect infiniteness (my blog, my word), physically be down here.  We'd fry, just being in his presence for a second.  And he thought of that.  He knew that we needed to respect and rely on a source of power that was so eminent and mighty, that he couldn't be touched.  But here's the amazing kicker that I was guided to today.  He relies on us too.  People need touch.  They need eye contact.  They need interest.  They need physicality.  They need Christ followers who get that and can BE Christ to them.  And we get to do that!  Wow!!  The God of the Universe has called us to In-His-Name flat-out, all-out, heart-out LOVE people.  Here's another kicker.  And I consider myself to be a baby Christian here, so give me some grace, but nowhere in my studies of the Bible do I see where we must agree with someone before we are to show them love.  Wha????  So if the converse of this is true, (See?  Girls can do math!), then that also means that just because we show love to someone, it doesn't necessarily mean we condone their life choices or way of thinking.  That's not even in our wheelhouse to figure out.  God is the champion of changing hearts and lives.  We aren't.  From what I study, we aren't even supposed to be worried about whether or not someone else is living "right." (As if our way of living is the right way <insert eye roll here>).

Synergy.  What is it?  Google helped me out with the wording here. Synergy is "The interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects."  We've all seen this at some point in our lives right?  When I was a GI nurse giving conscious sedation so patients could be pleasantly blitzed during painful procedures, I observed this effect daily.  With one medicine that I gave, patients would relax, their breathing would even out, and they wouldn't feel much discomfort but would still be aware of their surroundings.  When I added another medicine, Versed, (NOW I have your attention!), they would get a little smile on their face and close their eyes and usually would say something like, "You wanna come home with me later?"  True story.  It was the best ego-boosting experience ever and I got to relive it several times a day. ;)  The Versed by itself did not take care of the pain.  The Fentanyl by itself did not ease the awareness of an uncomfortable experience.  But when given in tandem?  Voila'!  Little memory of the event, and much decreased discomfort.  The perfect combo.

God's job is to work on hearts if he so chooses. He alone has that right. He guides us, uses various tools to communicate with us, and yes, through his working in our lives and reading about his work in other's lives, we can learn more about his character and live how he'd like us to.  But we have a job too.  Did you ever think that you could be part of a synergistic relationship every day?  Did you ever consider that you might have already been CALLED to act in such a manner?  You have been.  I have been.  It takes little training but a bit of courage and a whole lot of "Here goes Lord, guide me!"

Try this.  Ask God right now to send you someone today who needs to be encouraged.  And pray that you will recognize that person, and that God will give you the words to say and the actions to give.  Tell him you want to be his arms, his eyes, his voice.  And then sit back and wait.  You, my friend, are about to be AMAZED.  The people and opportunities he has brought into my life since I started doing this are absolutely mind-blowing.  Someday I should write a book about it.  This is a no-risk proposition.  He will bring people right into your path.  He will give you the courage to pull this off.  He will even pop words into your head and prompt you as needed.  It's a win-win!!

Hey let me know how this works for you!  Wouldn't it be something if we started a movement of just accepting that there are people in this world who believe and act and live differently than us, and it's not our job to convince them that our way is better?  Wouldn't it be something if people could receive the comfort and support that God would love to pour out on them if he could?  Let's be his arms.  We have nothing to lose!  So......Go.....

....Make it a great day!!

Casting Crowns: "If We Are The Body" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SExJ9od-0zQ

light bulb photo courtesy of brainworldmagazine.com

hands photo courtesy of drbilldean.com