Cover my Weakness

Oh my goodness, how I love to sing in Latin! I love the way the words themselves sound like a song. It is such a beautiful language. I love singing, period. I love being able to soar through high notes and hit them with crystal voices as the altos bring that low, mournful sound. I love that the second sopranos carry the melody. I love that when we all sing our parts, correctly and when we're supposed to, that we sound so beautiful. But I sat as our lovely director worked with each part, and listened to them sing. Each part, sounded funny. The notes just didn't sound quite- right. Even when the notes were sung correctly, it didn't sound good. It was only when we all sang together that the harmony and the melody, the high notes and the low notes, the loud voices and the low rumbles, all worked together and made beautiful, haunting, clear music.

How like the body of Christ.

 

We have become such a culture of "I can do it myself" that we don't even realize how stupid we look, trying to function on our own. Trust me, those high notes are a blast to hit, but without the altos and the seconds there to add some other notes, we would get tired, sound funny, and really, I don't think it would be an enjoyable experience to listen to us sing. Our high notes wouldn't be as effective without the other singers to support us, and in turn, they are more effective with us there to support them.

 

Paul talks about the importance of every part of the Body of Christ working together- it is such a simple idea. And yet, we have chose, the church at large, to forfeit it. We "don't want to inconvenience anyone" or "we're fine on our own" or my favorite "someone else will do that"- and so we don't "sing" at all.

 

Oh friends! Why have we stopped meeting the needs of one another? We do we battle through our own weaknesses, trying to subsidize for them, when others are called to cover our weaknesses with their strength?

I worked at a special needs camp one summer. A life changing experience, and a story for another time. The counselors from each cabin would spend each night debriefing, and then a good amount in prayer. It was the weirdest thing: they insisted we hold hands, with our fingers locked. So here sat 10 or so girls who had never met, holding hands in prayer, fingers intertwined like some teenybopper couple. "WHY?" was the internal scream of every worker there. But as we sat, holding hands, before we prayed that first night, the cabin leaders explained exactly why. "We ask you to hold hands like this, to remind you of a very valuable truth: we are meant to cover each other's weaknesses; to carry each others' burdens. When you look at your hands, your knuckles are the strongest part, these remain exposed. But between your knuckles are where your hands are most sensitive and weak. When you hold hands like this in prayer, you are using your strength to cover someone else's weakness."

We are supposed to work together to help cover those weaknesses. Guess what! Everybody has them. No one person is good at everything, and for the body to be effective, we must all be doing our part.

Singing may not be your thing, talent, or favorite pastime, but it was how the Father chose to remind me of this truth.

He recently sat someone in my life, who is organized and good at administration. I immediately recognized her value to me as we planned, because she was strong where I was not. She has a skill, where I have none. I needed her to be the most effective to my community group.

Find the people in your life that you need to need again. Value them. Thank them. Let them be to you, what you should be to them.

 

Let's all really sing together again.