One Body, Not One Limb

So this morning as I was praying about what my next step in life is, I was lead to a passage in James. When I first read it, I thought... What? How does that apply to my life? That's not something I struggle with. But of course our interpretation of things is not always accurate. (Imagine that)

James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^[a]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it ^[b]on your pleasures.

I seriously had this puzzled demeanor... I don't spend money frivolously. I've learned many a lesson on spending money over the last couple of years and I know better!! Then, as I sat there I realized it meant something else entirely! I was missing the bigger picture and I began to understand as God began to speak to my heart. 

Nothing you do, no place you go, nothing that's given to you, even if it's what you want, is for YOU. Everything I do, every place I send you, everything I ask of you is for the benefit of others, for the Body of Christ. It may benefit you, it may be something you've asked me for, it may be something you enjoy but that doesn't mean it's for your benefit solely. You are but one part of the Body. When the body (physical body) is hurting or in pain other functions and entities within the body work to heal that area. When it's healed the body can function as normal which means the body as a WHOLE is relieved and the body as a WHOLE has benefited. If the body didn't do it's job a limb could be affected by infection and need to be removed, that affects the body as a WHOLE as well. You are one piece of the body. Don't become prideful or even overly joyful when it appears that you're getting "what you want". It might not have anything to do with you! 

OUCH!

Let me tell you how great it is to start your morning with a reprimand! 

When I started to think about the things I have asked for recently, prayed for, or sought direction for I realized that it was based on my comfort level, my emotion, my my my my.... I had not taken into consideration what the overall picture entailed. When I think about being in Florida and why I'm here I associate it with feelings of being uncomfortable, feeling out of place etc. Not because I don't love Florida and not because I'm not grateful for beautiful snow-less days!! But because I have felt displaced, out of sorts, and disconnected. All the while asking God what I was supposed to be learning or getting out of being here. But I didn't take into consideration that Him moving me here, may not have had ANYTHING at all to do with me; and that sending me to the next place isn't going to have anything to do with me either. Here's another version of that scripture:

James 4:3  Or if you do ask, you do not receive because your reasons for asking are wrong. You want these things only to please yourselves.

I realize full well that Psalm 37 says "He will give you the desires of your heart" and I fully believe that. But that verse is followed with these words: "Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it." For me this was not a reprimand in that I had been asking for things and not seeing answers. It was that I was not looking at the whole picture. I was looking at the here and now and focusing on how I feel in moment. There is more to me being here. There is more to me being removed from "home" to come here and there will be more to the story when I go to the next place God calls me to. 

Remember in all that you do .... others are affected. There is purpose in all things. (This seems to be a new motto for me) Whether the purpose affects me directly or indirectly, and whether or not that purpose or picture is revealed to me, the point is that I am part of One Body, not one limb. I'm only a small part of a much bigger picture!