I prayed and searched the dictionary long for the right
title for this retreat.
Unique- used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone
else; very special or unusual; belonging to or
connected with only one particular thing, place, or person
Design-
to plan and make decisions about (something that is being built or
created) to plan and make (something) for a specific
use or purpose
I had the vision over a year ago, that we would have a time
for women to share their stories, Christian women, serious Christ followers who
are living that out in different ways.
Within the realm of good, not sinful, but life choices, I
know that for every decision that I might make, ever choice that I have, there
is someone, another dear Christian who would make the opposite choice. I have
seen that we have a hard time with that. It just seems that there should be one
right way, and that would be my way.
As I have read the Bible many times, I have seen that God is
very flexible. He is also somewhat unpredictable. He never changes in His
character. He is compassionate, loving, kind, merciful, holy, righteous,
faithful, forgiving… He never changes in
His character.
But, if you read the Bible, you can see that the way He
chooses to work varies a whole lot.
When the Israelites were at the Red sea, with the Egyptians
coming, God said, Be still and know that I am God, then he parted the sea for
them to cross.
When the Israelites stood at the Jordan river, ready to go
into the good land, God said, tell the priests to walk into the raging, flooded
river. After they were in the river, God stopped the river up stream, and it
took a while for the flood to stop.
When God decided to speak to Moses, he chose to speak in the
midst of a bush that was on fire. When God wanted to speak to the prophet
Balaam, he gave a voice to the donkey and let him do the talking. I’m not
making this stuff up.
God sometimes told His people, This is not your battle, just
stay still and watch. Other times, He said, Do not be afraid, go into battle
and fight, because I am with you.
When the Israelites entered the Promised land, the first
city they came to was Jericho. How many know how that battle was fought? God told them to march around the city every
day for 7 days, then, on the last day, march around it 7 times, then blow the
trumpets and yell. The walls fell and they took the city. Do you know that they never used that method again???? It worked once, why wouldn’t they use it on
every city? You know I could go on and on giving examples.
Then, come to the New Testament. Jesus healed a lot of
people. Sometimes he touched them, sometimes, they reached out and touched him.
Sometimes they begged to be healed, sometimes they didn’t even ask, Jesus went
to them and worked a miracle. Some blind men were healed by a word, sometimes
by a touch. I feel bad for the guy that Jesus made mud with his spit, and put
it on the poor guys eyes, and told him to go wash them. Jesus was NOT predictable. He was unique and treated each person as a
unique individual.
Why do we expect that He would tell us all to do the same
thing, to be the same person?
We know that in 1 Cor 12 Paul says that the church is the
body of Christ, made of many members with different gifts, different work to
do, different ways of working.
"14 For the
body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the
foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that
would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if
the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,”
that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the
whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body
were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as
it is, God arranged the members
in the body, each one of them, as he
chose. 19 If all
were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it
is, there are many parts,[e] yet one
body.
21 The eye
cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the
feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the
parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on
those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater
honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24be which
our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body,
giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that
there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same
care for one another. 26 If one member suffers,
all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."
Look at my body, every part is so different. Even the body
parts that come in pairs, those pairs are not exactly the same. Look at your thumbs. Are they exactly the
same? Mine are not. One thumb is a
little defective, has a joint that sticks out. But I still like that thumb. And
it still works quite well. In fact, I like all of my body parts. My favorite
body part may be my eyes. I really like eyes. I like that because of my eyes, I
can see. Eyes are also pretty. They are the only body part that come in
different colors, which is really cool. But, I don’t want to trade in all my
other body parts to have more eyes. That’s creepy to even think about. I want
my 2 eyes, but also, my 2 ears, my feet and legs. Each body part is very
important to me. That is how God feels about each one of us.
This is not just a spiritual truth. This is the reality of
the church. God created us soooo very different. Jesus prayed for oneness, that
we would love each other and not be divided, but have a true unity. That
doesn’t mean all be the same. That means accepting each other and our
differences. That means esteeming one another. That means having respect for
each person and not dismissing their views or their ways of doing things,
thinking that someone different must be wrong.
We see things differently, based on the way our brains
operate, due to our individual DNA, based on our past experiences which are
completely individual, based on our parents, based on past teaching. Sometimes,
I hear a teacher speak about a verse, and I am so surprised, because I never
saw it that way, it is totally new to me to see it like that. But it is not
just Bible teaching, it is life choices, calling, life styles. Every choice I
make, someone in the room will take a different approach. Can I be ok with
that?
Can we esteem each other so much that we can trust our
choices, trust that each of us is maybe hearing from God, and that he is
telling us different things, because He knows us each so well, and has specific
and unique plans for each of us?
There is an interesting story at the very end of Jesus time
on earth, recorded in John. Jesus has
died and come back to life, and had a few conversations with his followers. In
John 21, Jesus speaks to Peter, telling him, Peter, if you love me, then take
care of my people. Jesus then tells Peter that there will come a time when he
is old that he will suffer as a follower of Jesus. Peter was ok with that, but
asked, Jesus, what about my friend John, what will happen to him? Jesus said, “If it is my will that he remain
until I come back, what is that to you? YOU follow me.”
These are the last recorded words of Jesus in the gospels.
Matt, Mark, and Luke end with Jesus telling his followers to go and spread the
word of his death and resurrection. John ends his story with Jesus telling one
unique follower to just follow Him, and not worry about what anyone else is
doing. The final word from the stories of Jesus. That must be important. Jesus
calls us each to follow Him. And he doesn’t want us to worry about what other
people are doing. We are to hear his voice and follow him.
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