Last week I worked on a Samaritan’s Purse rebuild project in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Samaritan’s Purse uses volunteer crews to repair and rebuild homes damaged in disasters. We were reconstructing houses damaged in a massive flood in 2016. These people have been out of their homes for more than two years.
Before we began work, the construction supervisor for our team reviewed safety instructions. One of his admonitions was to use the proper tools, especially a ladder when needed.
“Our ladders get lonely on the truck,” he joked. “When people use chairs and tables instead, the ladders feel like they aren’t needed.”
This reminded me of the passage in 1 Corinthians where Paul talks about the various parts of the body. “If the whole body were an ear,” he says, “where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Cor. 12:17-18).
Each of us has a purpose, divinely inspired. We need to find that purpose and carry it out, with God’s help. If we try to take on a role that God intended for someone else, we not only fail to fulfill His purpose for our lives, but we also prevent the other person from living in the beauty of God’s perfect will.
But there was a second lesson related to ladders: be sure of your support. When you are setting up a stepladder, we were reminded, it must be on a solid base with all four feet on the ground.
In the same way, a fulfilling, satisfying life requires having your feet on a solid foundation. God’s Word alone provides the base, the support for a life that is well-lived.
