Vol. 17 No. 17 | April 27, 2015
You were sick and could not make it to the gathering of your Christian community this morning. You had a legitimate reason; you were sick. You were not just skipping church. You were not there. You were missed.
The ladies had a meeting to study the Word, encourage one another, and pray together. You could not attend this month’s meeting. You had out of town guests. You wanted and needed to spend the time with them. You were not there. You were missed.
You have a group of guys you meet with on a weekly basis for fellowship and a time to check in with each other. Your week was full of travel, meetings and a couple of surprise schedule shifts. You decided to sleep in. No hard feelings, but you were not there and you were missed.
There was a meeting at your church. You thought about going, but were not sure your presence would be needed. So, you decided not to attend. You were not there. You were missed.
Your family had planned a special celebration event. You a decided not to go. Your work schedule had been heavy, money for travel was limited, and you really just did not want to be away from home, so you did not go. After the event you received a flood of calls, emails, texts, and social media messages all saying the same thing: You were not there. You were missed.
There was an important meeting at work that you relay needed to attend but you were also scheduled to be working an important deal in another city so you could not attend. You later talked with several of your colleagues. The message was the same from all of them: We are sorry you were not there. You were missed.
You had a rough weekend. Instead of resting and relaxing you tried to do all the household chores that had piled up from a long cold winter. You were up early, worked all day, and stayed up late with the family. Now it is Monday morning and you are more fatigued than when you came home on Friday. So when the alarm sounds on Monday morning you shut it off, roll over and decide to sleep-in. You assumed no one would care and your absence would go mostly unnoticed. The next day when you return to work your co-workers are concern. “We missed you. It is not the same around her when you are not here. You were missed.”
Meetings sometimes get boring. Church attendance sometimes seems to hold little value. It is easy to take family gatherings for granted. The monotony of work and the routine of workday activities can make you feel unimportant, dispensable, and at times completely useless. It is easy in those times of discouragement and frustration we must find a way to remind yourself that you are invisible, insignificant, nor invaluable. No, the world does not revolve you and your opinion is not likely sway the decisions of the world’s greatest minds.
This may not change way the world treats you or the way you feel at the end of the long difficult week of disappointment, frustrations and discouragement, but maybe when you consider the opinion of you held by the creator of the universe you will feel a little better about the role you play in the lives of your church, your work place, your family and your friends.
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1 Corinthians 12:18)
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)
If you were not in your home, you would be missed. If you were not a friend to your friends, you would be missed. If you stopped doing your job, you would be missed. If you were not you, you would be missed. So, this week, wherever you are, whoever you are with, whatever you are doing be who you are and know that if you were not there you would be missed.
Tom
© Copyright 2015 Tom Norvell. All rights reserved.