What's Your Shape?

“Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.”  I Corinthians 12: 14 & 15

Do you remember that kid’s toy that was a box with different shaped holes? It came with plastic shapes to teach the toddler which shape went in the right hole. I used to watch my kids progressively get better at recognizing the squares, stars and other shapes. It was very tempting to help them along as they tried to stuff a square piece into a round opening. I just had to keep my hands to myself and let them figure it out.

Many of us are trying to fit the wrong shapes together in our own lives. God has molded us to fit in a certain place, and when we try to fit somewhere else…well, we either have to force the opening to change or we rearrange ourselves to fit in a place that wasn’t meant for us. Oh, it can be done if we are persistent. God will give us over to our own selfish will. He will patiently wait for us to see that it isn’t working out so well.

We lean on our own understanding of our make up instead of asking Him first what He would have us do with our talents. When we are tired of being pinched and squeezed, we turn to God and ask why He hasn’t made things work for us. Getting into the wrong shaped hole is tough, but wait till you have to push your way out backwards!

Paying attention to what part we hold in the body of Christ will make us effective in its function. We will find peace in doing what we know we were created to do. Life is difficult enough without spending so much energy on stuffing and squeezing into a place that will never be a comfortable fit.