CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

LITTLE CONSEQUENCES!

5/27/2022

 
It’s the smallest of things - a little screw no more than an eighth of an inch long.  But oh, how important it is!  If you don’t believe me, just try being utterly dependent upon your eyeglasses, and then losing this little screw that holds the metal frame around the lens.
 
This happened to me recently when I went to remove my glasses, and the right lens literally fell out of the frame between the split second of time after they left my head and before reached the table top. Upon examination, I discovered that the little screw atop the right side of my glasses was missing.  And as I was soon to learn, no amount of finagling on my part was going to solve the problem.  All I could do was take them back to where I got them and have them repaired right.

As I have reflected on this brief experience, I have been reminded that some of the smallest parts can often be the most critical.  For instance, I remember reading something in a book by James Robison titled Living Amazed about the three smallest bones in the human body.

According to Robison, these bones are found in the middle ear, and are called the malleus, incus, and stapes, but are perhaps more commonly known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.  He writes: “The hammer is arranged so that one end is attached to the eardrum, while the other end forms a lever-like hinge with the anvil. The opposite end of the anvil is fused with the stirrup (so anvil and stirrup act as one bone).”

Known collectively as the middle ear “ossicles”, the three bones work together in obscurity, completely invisible to the outside world.  Yet, they are absolutely essential to our ability to hear.  Without them, only 0.1 percent of the sound energy that hits the eardrum would be transferred to the inner ear.  But because God has arranged these tiny parts in a way that maximizes their leverage, they produce a sonic effect far beyond their diminutive size.

Robinson then points out that, just as the human body has no insignificant parts, the body of Christ has no small or unimportant members. We all have a sphere of influence - however large or small, however visible or invisible - and we all have a vital role to play in God's plan for redeeming and restoring the world.

Thus, we may be as well-hidden as a bone in the inner ear, an internal organ, or a foot inside a shoe, but every person is absolutely essential to the eternal purpose of Almighty God.  As the Apostle Paul puts it in his First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 12, verses 18-22):

“But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’ In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”

Wow!  Certain parts of the body that seem the weakest are actually the most necessary.  In like manner, I’m thankful for the three little bones inside both my left and right inner ears!  Without them, I could not hear correctly.  Nor could I walk correctly, as the inner ear helps to give my body balance and steadiness!

And when those times roll around, as they sometimes do, that I feel like I do not have much of an impact on the body of Christ, or its purposes, I think about the bones of my inner ear.  For, just like the minuscule little screws that hold my eyeglasses together, they are indispensable to the effective working of my senses. 

Moreover, while I may not always be aware of the significance of my contribution, the Lord always is; and this fact alone makes the part I play indispensable and worthwhile!

BOOK SOURCE:  James Robison, Living Amazed: How Divine Encounters Can Change Your Life (Grand Rapids: Revell Publishing, 2017), pages 203-204. 

NOTE:  As a quick Google image search will show, all three of these little bones can fit neatly on a dime coin, looking as they do like three little chicken wings on a large plate!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:  https://biblehub.com/nlt/1_corinthians/12.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All