The Weakest, Scardiest Stones

I look around, and I see those God could have chosen for His Church. Why me? Surely the man of strength and athletic prowess over there, or how about that woman who graces so many magazine covers, are they not better suited to build the Church upon? Apparently not, for I have met far more who believe fully in Christ, and yet have no desire to compete as a superstar athlete or endure the fame of a magazine idol. Are these living stones tempted by such things? Well, only if you count almost all the time as a temptation.

We live in a world of idolatry. Yet among all of the beautiful people, God seems to chose those of us who will most likely never appear on a magazine cover or sit in the chair on a talk show. We are scared, weak, poor, some employed and some not, loud or quiet, fast or slow, and a whole lot of other qualities that make us part of a population. When it seems that God would take the big, strong, and lovely stones that stand out from the crowd in the quarry, He takes the most common of stones and gives them life.

In 1 Peter 2, the apostle calls us living stones. We are to come before God as before a living stone. Most of the time we blip right on past that term in our reading. A living stone? A live rock? What is that supposed to mean? We desire strength; what could be stronger than a living stone? What experience could this Living Stone share with us when we come before Him? Note the patience of the Living Stone as He sits unmovable and unchanging as the eons pass. See how our Lord seems to choose the weakest, scardiest, and most unlovely stones for His own. How does He build a temple with these stones as they tremble, shake, and quiver, sometimes even turn about, while being stacked?

We don't know, but sometimes there does seem to be a little landslide in a church. I like to imagine our Lord patiently picking those fallen stones back up, dusting them off, and placing each one lovingly back in its assigned place. The stones are alive, and in that life they appear frightened at times, grumbly at other times, but every once in a while, we look and they are lovely together in the light of our Lord Jesus.

Praise God our Father,
Bucky