When working properly...

I'm just going to share with you a little bit of what happened a few months ago at my house, in hopes you won't judge me. I typically have an average amount of common sense, but I think my common sense was on vacation this day.

My AC went out upstairs in my house. It was early May, and I was a few weeks away from Marketplace. Not having AC upstairs in my bedroom, wasn't going to be a feasible option,  if I (or all of you) wanted me to be a pleasant human or... kind.

A repairman came over and I showed him outside to the unit. He was kind and had a very strong southern (country) accent. As he squatted down beside the unit, almost immediately, he said "Honey, is someone playing a trick on you?" 

I wasn't quite sure how to respond. So I said, "No sir, I don't think so. Why?" (With my thoughts immediately focused in on my brother who had been to visit 2 weeks prior...Was there toliet paper caught in the trees? Was there something written on my shirt? Did Wilson leave a "present" for me outside my back door?  I wasn't sure what this man was referring to, and was looking around frantically to figure out what he was talking about.)

He told me, as kindly as he could without laughing, "Um, sweetie, your unit isn't plugged in. That's why your air isn't working."

I've never felt like a more dumb, helpless girl. 

I told him how embarrassed I was, and he plugged in the unit for me, and suddenly, all of my sweaty problems were fixed.

It's reminded me over and over,  if there is ONE area of my life that seems to be a little out of control, or out of "order", it typically tends to have the snowball effect, and everything begins to unravel. Much like when my AC was "broken", it caused me to be hot, which then caused me to be short-tempered, which then affected how well\poorly I interacted and loved people. BUT, here's the hope, friends:

Much like one individual, the body of Christ is like that, too. When one thing goes poorly, and we lose control, the whole Body is changed. But, when working properly, the body of believers grows and builds itself up. This takes work! This takes practice. )Too bad it's not natural for us to be unconditionally loving... bummer.) This takes us looking inward to our respective communities, and seeing one another the way the Lord sees us. And, that's really hard. 

Nehemiah, after the wall is rebuilt around the city of Jerusalem, he stops, and he recognizes the people that made the re-building possible (Chapter 7).  As a leader, he is able to list out the groups of people that make His job as a leader, easier. One commentary I read a few days ago says  "Nehemiah was able to stop and see the beauty in being lost in a team, in a people. There is such grace in stopping to see the people around you, thanking God for them, and moving forward together." 

This is a theme you're going to be hearing about from me, for a while. This concept of "grace in the team around you". It's beautiful because we could so often be failing. Hey, usually I'm failing in a few areas daily.  And because of the failure, everything in our lives could be falling apart. BUT, because God created us for each other, we don't have to carry or take on anything by ourselves. There is no reason to fail- except for pride. We'll talk about that another day. When working properly, the body of believers, cares for each other. When working properly, the body of Christ doesn't have isolated desperation. When working properly, people look at each other the way the Lord looks at us; with loving affection and the utmost concern and attentiveness. 

So, what do you need to do in your life to make sure the greater BODY of Christ is working properly? Do you need to change the lenses of which you use to look at people? Do you need to ask someone to walk alongside of you, so you don't feel alone? Do you need to simply PLUG something in, for everything to begin working correctly? 

You're not alone. I'm not alone. Let's allow our stories to continue to be intertwined with one another, because it shows the world more of who Christ is. Let's face it, it's becoming more  rare for a group of people to agree to love each other. The news in the evenings tells all of the world that. If we choose to look at everyone the way the Lord looks at us, what a witness that would be, to the God who loves more than we are able to comprehend.