Every Wednesday, we have the privilege of attending a Widows’ Bible Study just down the road from our home in Livingstone, Zambia. It’s a beautiful experience. We start by worshipping the Lord. The widows sit in a circle on the floor and sing hymns in their native tongue while we listen. Each one of them has an incredible voice which harmonizes so well with the others. We don’t know anything they’re singing, but then again, we don’t need to know. The Lord surpasses language barriers.
After we sing, we start the actual Bible study. There’s no outline, no handout, no cliff notes. All we have is the Word of God. Oh, did I mention that we are currently going through the most exciting book of the Bible, Numbaaas. We read two chapters every week. Let me tell ya. Trying to get profound revelation from a list of numbers and names is challenging, but the Lord never fails. For an hour and a half, we discuss what the Lord taught us. It’s my new favorite type of Bible study. Reading the word and discussing it. So pure.
Here’s something the Lord revealed to me while we were reading Numbers 1:
Moses was instructed by the Lord to take a census of all the able-bodied men of Israel, so the number of warriors could be determined. The men of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Gad, and so on and so on were all listed. When it came to the tribe of Levi, God decided He wasn’t going to count them quite yet but said that the men of this tribe would serve as caretakers of the Tabernacle.
I put myself in the position of all these men, and the idea of comparison came to my mind. We have men appointed to go to war and men appointed to take care of the Tabernacle. The warriors were probably thinking, “What? I’m asked to put my life on the line while the hooligans from Levi just have to clean the tabernacle!” All the while, the Levites are doubting themselves and saying, “I guess we aren’t man enough to fight with the other tribes, so here we are sweeping and dusting.”
But when I really think about this set-up, the warriors would have nothing to fight for if there weren’t people taking care of the Tabernacle. The caretakers couldn’t do there job properly if they were constantly being attacked. Despite their different callings, the men of Israel were united.
Over the past seven months, I’ve had the privilege of co-leading with two incredible and strong woman of God, Jm Fields and Moe Ogunkeye. I’ve learned so much about celebrating each other’s gifts on this trip. There’s things that I can’t do that Jm and Moe can. There’s other things that I can that they can’t. In the beginning, it was easy to think to myself, “Man, Moe can really walk into a Team Time and instantly discern where they are at as a Team in five minutes flat. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!” It’s so easy to compare instead of celebrate.
As of late, I’ve been convicted to celebrate their giftings instead of comparing myself to them. Instead of “I wish I could do that”, it’s “I’m not the best at that thing, but I’m so grateful that they are!” The Lord has changed my heart of comparison to a heart of celebration. Thank God that He puts people in my life to do things that I can’t. It’s the body of Christ at its finest.
“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” – 1 Corinthians? ?12?:?18-20?
