A Backstage Pass!

Have you ever been to a stadium event? We watched a show on TV the other night that showed a black and white segment of a Billy Graham event from way back in the day. There was no media, no technology (except the mic). Just Billy Graham standing on a stage preaching with a whole lot of people in the stadium listening. The "concert" before he preached was a lone man standing at the mic singing. Today's stadium events blow that out of the water as far as logistics go! We attended Acquire the Fire earlier this year with the youth from church. Hundreds and hundreds of people worked prior to that event to make is such a success. Someone put the signs in the parking lot. Someone designed and printed the wristbands. Someone designed the website. Someone set up the stage and all the cords that go along with it. Someone ran the lights. Someone took out the trash. Someone cleaned the restrooms during the event. The amount of people it took to make that event happen is staggering. Then some people got on stage and got the glory. Well, God got the glory, too. If everyone had insisted, "If I'm going to be a part of ATF, I want to be on stage!" then it never would have happened.

The Bible has something to say about this. Listen to these words from 1 Corinthians 12.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

Now please read these verses in context in your Bible. The author is talking about spiritual gifts. But here's what I'm thinking. We all play a different role in the church and in our families. There is a lot of talk today in the church about finding your spiritual gifts, your unique purpose, your "thing" that you will do in the church. It seems that it is an open ended question with a myriad of answers and possibilities before us. Someone even had to come up with a formula of sorts to help us all figure out what it is we are supposed to be doing. I'm a little stumped by the confusion.

I have found a lot of verses that tell me exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. More than I can list here. I am a wife, so all the verses talking to wives apply to me. I am a parent, so parenting verses apply to me. I am a believer, so verses that talk to believers are talking to me. There are examples in the Bible as well, such as Dorcas. I find no end to the question of "What should I be doing?" No not just anyone--me. What about me? What should I be doing?

As if I need a special book of the Bible written just for me!

God may indeed have big plans for me one day. He may ask me to be the person up on stage one day. But right now, I'm busy ironing my husband's clothes, fixing food for my family, taking care of my children's needs, and helping my husband in his ministry. I guess I'm one of those behind the scenes people who make big things happen by all the little things I do. I'm very content here because I know what I'm supposed to be doing. I have been given a backstage pass where I am very busy and get to watch the Lord work at the same time.