Tony, our children’s pastor asked us, “Are you the missing piece?” In every family road trip, there are roles to be held and each person is vital to the success and enjoyment of the trip itself. (Drivers, navigators, DJs, photographers just to name a few.) Yes, you could do without a few of the roles, but that means that others will have to pick up the slack somewhere. Trust me, you do not want me in charge of photography! Sometimes, I look and see something incredible and even say to myself, “That would be a great picture,” and then completely forget to take it. We would need a brain scan and imaging machine to be able to see the photos that I took. My forte is more in the driving and navigating. This being said, we all have roles to play in our daily lives and in our church. God gave us abilities and talents for a reason. He purposed you to fulfill a divine mission. You are a part of the body of Christ, as Paul reveals to us. While it may be true that the body can function without certain parts or with limited mobility, there are limitations when this happens. In fact, runners will tell you that if they decide to run through a nagging injury without letting it heal, they run the risk of injuring another body part of their body trying to compensate. Our bodies adapt over time to the needs around, but why limit the body needlessly by removing a piece of the puzzle? What has God gifted you with? You will feel more fulfilled if you are using your gifts and abilities rather than sitting back and watching someone else do what you know that you have been called to do. There is a place and a purpose for you!

Secondly, Tony challenged us to find the lost pieces. We are called to look for and discover others to equip them for their God-given calling. There once was a woman who lost her coin and swept her whole house to find the coin. She was searching because she valued the coin and celebrated when she found it. My daughter once received a nickel and on the way to the car she dropped it in the grass. Being only two years old, she immediately shouted “Uh-oh!” and a search party of four adults was formed to find her nickel. It was important to her. Do we value others in the same way? There is much rejoicing in heaven when one person who is separated from God returns. God has placed people in our communities and in our spheres of influence to be a part of his puzzle. They have a longing to belong just as we do. They have special abilities and gifts that in some cases lay dormant and unfulfilled because no one has revealed their true calling.

To make a long story short, we all have a role to play in this body and without one of us the image of Christ to the world is incomplete. Are you the missing piece, or do you know the missing piece?