We're going through Ephesians right now. We did a quick blitz through it at the end of the summer right before our dear friends, the Martins, moved three hours north of here, wanting to share with them what we knew we were going to be studying at a slower pace in the fall. I mention that because even after years of reading that Book, it never ceases to be fresh and new. We've gone through Ephesians many times over the past years, even reading part of this chapter (3) at our wedding, but last night I saw something that I've never seen before. Paul's been talking about the amazing mystery of how the Jews (his chosen people) and the Gentiles (everybody else) have been made into one new "man" through Jesus Christ. I'm not going to take the time tonight to go through everything we discussed last night because I need to get to bed, but am waiting for my phone to charge before I head up, but here's this, which I have honestly never seen before:
...so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. - Ephesians 3:10A few things. First, this it is through the church that this thing is going to be displayed (and what thing? Well, the manifold wisdom of God!) and this church is one body made up of each one of God's people, Jew, Gentile - all of us. And to whom is his wisdom made known? This is the part I'd never noticed - it's made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places! The cosmic scale of this is mind-boggling to me. Through us, the church, acting as the church, through that God is showing not just other humans, but the invisible powers of the spiritual world, how very wise he is. This is big stuff, and he's doing it through his Church.
It makes the next few verses when he's talking about his suffering, and the boldness with which we can approach God in prayer make a bit more sense. It's also another reminder to me that every mundane piece of my every-day life is feeding into something beyond what I can even begin to imagine.
So, for anyone still reading, because I'm really shorting this, what in the world does this have to do with the title of this post?
Well, Bobbi had a good night, and it was great having Faith stay with her to give us a bit of reprieve. Faith left this morning after Bobbi went to her first therapy session, and my plan was to go down before she finished her sessions for the morning. I had to be back at the house no later than 2:00. As I was working out the day in my mind, waiting for Eben to wake up and nurse so I could leave, and wondering how Bobbi was going to tolerate the times she would have to be alone today, Rose (Krassi and Reuben's Rose) texted to see if sometime after 2 would be a good time for her to go visit Bobbi.
Um, yes!!! That leaves Bobbi with about an hour to herself. Perfect.
So Gloria and Eben and I got down there in time to spend about half an hour with Bobbi. She was having a tougher time - the things they're wanting her to do hurt, and it doesn't feel like she's making much progress. The session ended on a good note, though. Her therapist finally convinced her to do one minute of standing at the parallel bars. She managed to get her up to standing, and at the end of the minute asked if she could do more or if she was done. "I don't know," was her response. I smiled with pride at the internal battle I saw. "I don't know," is NOT, "No." It's more like, "I don't know if I can, but I want to, but don't know if I've got it in me." By that point, we'd made it another 30 seconds, and she decided on her own to go for three minutes. By the time we were done, she'd made it for SIXTEEN minutes!!!
Our friends, the Dunmires, told me earlier this week they wanted to bring some of Bobbi's favorite food to the hospital tonight. He stopped through our house to drop some (tons!) off for the rest of us before heading down to see Bobbi. Good. Someone to break up that part of her day, and do supper with her. Even there I was not missing the fact that through the simple actions of his Church, our daughter was being cared for.
Imagine my surprise when Matt finally called me a bit ago to touch in before bed, and he told me that Rose stayed until Doug got to the hospital, and Doug was still there when Matt got down to the hospital. All day long, and with Faith, Rose, and Doug, Bobbi had to spend less than an hour alone. They didn't plan that out together - each of them was just doing their own little part in their own weekends, but behold! the manifold wisdom of God.
And it's not just us who are witnessing it. Beautiful.
That is beautiful.
ReplyDelete