It came as quite a shock - and just the jolt that I needed. I was feeling sorry for myself, which is not an unusual thing when I am in pain. The morphine based drugs, including Fentanyl, that I need to take just to dull the pancreatic pain, can't remove it. They also have a slight depressive effect. So I turned to the scriptures for help and encouragement, but I wasn't expecting what I got!
'The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable' (1 Corinthians 12:21-22).
I have had some experience of parts of the body of Christ saying to me 'We don't need you' and it has been tremendously hard to bear, especially on top of the battle already going on. What struck me so forceably was the second and last parts of the passage. Christ is the head of the Church - and He cannot say to the lowest part of the body 'I don't need you'! That is so precious when you are feeling weak and vulnerable.
But what follows, and caused me to stop and take a deep breath, was that wonderful statement that those parts of the body of Christ that seem to be weaker are indispensible! Not just necessary, nor even important, but indispensible. So if you are feeling weak, or have experienced rejection yourself, hang on to these great facts
- Jesus says He needs you
- You are indispensible to Him and His church
- You deserve 'special honour' (vs 23)
