It’s funny now, but it wasn’t at the time. I was on a ladder, on our garage roof trying to sweep off the snow. Odd I know, but our garage roof has been leaking for a while. A local roofer gave me a quote for a new roof. Since then, I’ve been saving but because of inflation he now has to re-quote, but I just can’t get him to call round. So, I’ve been waiting for a dry spell to put a plastic sheet over the roof while I wait. However, as I stood on my roof, I had one of those moments when your brain speeds up and hundreds of thoughts start racing through your mind: “How am I going to get down?”, “What if I fall?”, “Andrea’s out and never answers her phone”, “I’ll just be left to die alone and rot!!!!!” Irrational I know, but I decided to find my way to terra firma. As I did, the ladder slipped, I panicked but thankfully made it to safety without injury. But it got me thinking…
I can’t do ‘all things’ and I don’t think God created me to. Yes, I know there is a promise in the Bible that says, ‘I can do all things through him who gives me strength’ (Philippians 4:13), but context is everything. In the context of this verse in the overall message of the Bible, the truth is I can’t, and I’m not supposed to do ‘all things’. We are all unique, crafted and gifted by God for specific tasks (Ephesians 2:10). In fact, if I could do anything, I wouldn’t need anyone, including God, family, neighbours, or a community. But God created us to need Him and each other. This isn’t forced upon us; it is a choice. But to admit we have limits to our abilities and need help, challenges our pride.
In the Bible, to teach we need each other the image of a body is used (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Yes, we are bespoke, but designed like each element of the body to function together as one. We are stronger when we become interdependent. When we learn to embrace the God-given abilities of others to complement our unique set of skills. This is how we build strong resilient communities in which we all can thrive. The challenge is our pride, selfishness, and independence. Instead of celebrating the skills and abilities of others, we compare and compete.
The first car we had was a Morris Traveller. My Dad said it would be easy to learn to fix and would go up in value over time. He was right about the latter, we made £300 on that car. Once when the dynamo failed, Dad carefully showed me how to replace it. A while later, the dynamo failed again and so I thought, “I know what to do, I’ll replace it, just like my Dad had shown me.” After thinking I’d successfully replaced the dynamo and feeling very proud of myself, I set off in the car. Suddenly, as I was driving the red light lit up on the dashboard and the car stopped. Eventually the AA arrived, and I explained to the very patient mechanic what I had done. I started to see him smile and he looked at me and asked, “What do you do for a living?” I explained, “I’m a musician and play and teach the piano.” I will never forget his response: “I can’t play the piano”, he laughed, “and you can’t fix cars!” Apparently, I had forgotten to polarise the dynamo. I must have missed that part of Dad’s lesson.
So, what am I learning? I’m unique, gifted, and special but there are some skills I just don’t have. Another image used regularly in the Bible is that of athletes running in the race of life. Not to encourage competitiveness or comparison, but that each of us should train and hone what we have been given to run our race, finish well and claim our prize. In fact, there is a little verse in the Bible I remembered again this week: ‘You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?’ (Galatians 5:7). The context teaches how followers of Jesus are free and can start well but are often tempted or even pushed out of their lane. God has a lane for our lives, let’s not look to the left or right and wish we were in a different lane. Don’t covet the skills and abilities of others and overlook or even despise our own individuality and unique design. We all have a role to play, a place prepared in His body just for us. We have a race to run, a gift to use, a skill to share that will enable us and the whole community to thrive. As I got down off the ladder I realised, I’ve not got the skills to fix my roof. So, I called my elusive roofer and to my surprise he came within an hour, gave me a quote by the end of the day and promised to fix my roof next month. I think someone was trying to tell me something: “Stay in your lane!”
Featured photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash
"Live to Serve" 