… so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5

It was a precious moment. Our plane had just touched down on the tarmac and a little girl’s voice rang out excitedly, “We did it, Daddy. We did it. We landed the plane.” All the passengers in earshot burst out laughing. She may have only been 4, but it seemed, in her mind, as if she was part of the crew, celebrating another successful landing.

How refreshing to hear a little one speak collectively in a society that elevates the individual above community. How beautiful to hear the honest excitement of a child celebrating being part of something bigger than herself, rather than the self-serving ‘it’s all about me’ behaviour we have witnessed among some Federal and State politicians in recent days and months. How wonderful to hear a small voice proclaim an eternal truth for ears that were willing to hear it.

‘We did it.’

I wonder…what would it look like if we embraced the mindset of that little girl in our approach to life? What if we saw ourselves as integrally connected to each other? What if we changed our language to focus on ‘we’ rather than me? What if we were to own the failures of society and see that we are a part of the problem? What if we saw ourselves as part of a team, honouring and valuing the small and big contributions alike as critical to the overall outcome and success? What would our homes look like? Our workplaces? Our communities? Our churches?

From the very beginning, God’s plan for the world is that we do life together; in relationship with him and connected to one another. “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him” (Genesis 2:18). “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9). The New Testament has an abundance of ‘one another’ verses that speak of God’s desire for relational living – serve one another, encourage one another, spur one another on, build up one another, pray for one another, love one another, be gentle with one another, just to name a few. We are created for each other. We are designed for community. We are knit together as one body to go further, to support one another, to ‘rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn’ (Romans 12:15). That’s always been God’s intention – to be a people belonging to him and in relationship with each other. We are redeemed together. Justified together. Forgiven together. Made new together. Belong together. Every need met together. Loved by God together. Called by God together to make visible his kingdom of grace and mercy in this world.

What a beautiful gift that is. What a force we can be as we live out together who we are in Christ. Like that little girl looking excitedly into her father’s eyes, we too can see the smile and experience the loving embrace of our heavenly Father as together we arrive home safely and blurt out, “We did it, Daddy. We did it.” And all of heaven with break out with applause and laughter!

Lord Jesus, what a gift it is to be part of your body; joined with you and others eternally. Help me play my part today, serving in love, that your purposes may be fulfilled and your name glorified. Amen.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:16-17

Winter must have arrived. Not just because it has ticked over to June 1. Not just because the temperature has plummeted and it is getting colder in the mornings and evenings. But winter is here because every day I listen to stories and walk with people where struggle is a constant companion, where addiction plunges individuals and families into deep unknown places or sickness rains down, putting a real dampener on the mood. I see mental illness hover over lives like a dark cloud and uncertainty blow through like a cold front freezing people in their tracks and preventing them moving forward. People are weary, confused, tired, frustrated, lost and some are even afraid. Like the prophet Habakkuk, I have heard many people utter: “How long, oh LORD, will I call for help?” (Habakkuk 1:2). For it seems that God is taking too long to come through for them.

Are you in a similar place? Is it winter time for your soul at the moment? Are you wondering where God is or why he is not coming through for you?

If that’s you, then take hope from something that occurred to me the other day as I was putting some carrots into a bag at my local green grocer. What I saw was layer upon layer of beautifully formed carrots, lined up waiting to be selected. They were all a similar size, perfectly symmetrical, fat, strong, and clean. But that’s not what all carrots look like. The ones we see are those that have already been through the shop’s stringent criteria. The real reality of carrots is that they actually grow in the dark underground as they fight against the hard soil, and bend around rocks and stones in the ground. From the top, we see the leafy growth but we don’t see the struggle that goes on underneath the surface. We don’t see any of the process that shapes them. All we know is that in the darkness, in the struggle, they grow. God makes sure of that. It’s only when the carrots are pulled from the soil that we see what they have become, how they have been shaped. Some look like what we see in the green grocers. Some are long and skinny. Some are short and fat. Some are distorted and twisted. Some even have double roots as they go through the process of growing. But no matter what they look like, it’s their fragrance and the flavour they provide when tasted or added to dishes that makes them so appealing.

When it’s a dark time in your life, for whatever reason. When you are asking God, ‘why are you so silent’ or ‘where are you’, remember the carrot! In dark times, God is there. When the cold winds of uncertainty blow, God is at work, shaping and growing you even if you cannot see it or feel it. When the temperature plunges in your life, let your roots sink deep down into God’s love.

Carrot faith is willing to trust that God is there, even when we can’t see him. Carrot faith is willing to trust God in the process, even if we can’t understand what is happening. Carrot faith is willing to wait in the dark, knowing that in God there is no darkness, as 1 John declares, but that there is a lot of God in darkness. His love is present to warm us. His grace is always surrounding us. His Spirit is at work shaping us and growing us. No matter what we look like when we are pulled from the earth and washed clean, God’s promise is that the inner strength he gives, will add flavour and appeal to whatever dish in the world he places us in.

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, give me a carrot faith that trusts what you are doing in me in the dark and uncertain times of life. Amen.

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Luke 15:8

It’s one of life’s mysteries. How two socks can go on the feet, come off the feet, but when the washing is done, one or more are missing partners! I had just finished folding the undies and the socks and there were eleven random, mismatched, and unpaired socks still lying on the table. What a pain. My first thought was that maybe some had gone through the previous wash. So I checked the odd sock drawer (a drawer that every household has). That found four partners. Hooray! But that still left seven socks M.I.A. I checked the washing machine and dryer, just to see if there were some strays hiding in there. I looked under beds and couches, in the bathroom and car (my kids always seem to take off socks in the car for some reason). All my searching returned only two more. But five socks still remain unaccounted for. Five individual socks were thrown in the odd sock drawer with all the other odd socks. Unless their partner can be found, they will be tossed out eventually.

As I was hanging out the next load of washing, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe the odd sock drawer is a good metaphor for what is happening in the Church today. There are a lot of odd socks that either go missing and are never found, or alternatively end up in an odd sock drawer only to be discarded after a period of time. There are also a lot of people who never quite find a Church where they fit and so vanish without a trace. Krystal experienced that. She started attending worship, became part of a small group but then disappeared off the scene. When we tracked her down and asked what had happened, she told us that it was because she felt like a misfit. She was single, unpaired, a bit of a goth, and our whole ministry was geared around families and couples. It wasn’t deliberate or intentional and the people were friendly, but Krystal felt like she didn’t belong; she was in the odd sock drawer. Then there was John. He lost his wife in a car accident. After she died, he felt out of place. Everyone loved his wife. She was a pillar of the Church and being confronted with her memory constantly meant that John gradually stopped worshipping – he was the odd sock out. Or a faithful family who were in Church one week but disappeared the next after their teenage daughter became pregnant.

Take a look at your Church. Can you see those who may feel like the odd sock out? Have you noticed the socks that have inadvertently gone missing? How diligently have you searched for that odd sock? Have you checked the odd sock drawer lately and tried to find a match for those who feel like they don’t quite fit, where their gifts/uniqueness can be appreciated and bless your community in countless ways? Are you creating a place where odd socks of all descriptions can find purpose and a place where they belong?

Thank God that he didn’t throw all us odd socks out either! Rather he sent his Son to seek us out, rescue us and give us a place where we belong forever; where our uniqueness is celebrated, where our presence brings him joy. Can we do less than that?

And maybe I might just go to the odd sock drawer and put on one of those odd socks to let every random, mismatched and unpaired person in the world know that in the body of Christ, there is always a place and a purpose for them.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank you that you never give up on searching for the lost or odd socks of this world. Give me that same heart that I too, may experience great joy when a lost sock is found or an odd sock finds a place in your Kingdom. Amen.