Some assembly required

Some Assembly Required…

For whatever reason, that phrase has haunted me today. It came into my mind shortly after I woke up, and many things I’ve heard, read, and done today fit well into this framework.

This is a common phrase when you receive something in pieces – they are all there, but you have to put them together to make something that does what’s intended. And an instruction sheet is a good thing, too, by the way. Without following the instructions, things may not work as designed.

I sing in the praise choir at our church. I am one voice of many. I have a part to learn and give back; that part is different from the person next to me, and theirs from the next person, and so on. We couldn’t each have just one piece that didn’t fit with the others. Some assembly was required before we could help lead the congregation in worship. The “instruction sheet” was the written music score; that was our guide to assembly.

Our sermon today related the grumbling of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. God, by His Mighty Hand, had brought them out of Egypt, and buried their pursuers under a wall of water. God provided them manna and water as they needed it. Then he gave them quail every evening. They even had their own navigation system in the form of clouds and fire. They had all the pieces, but somehow still couldn’t put it all together. There was still some assembly required – about 40 years worth! They were a work in progress for all that time, and for a considerable time after they reached the Promised Land.

I was also blessed today to be able to help serve a meal for our local Cornerstone Mission. Many hands provided things for the meal – main course, sides, desserts, drinks – but it was all just pieces. Before we could be a blessing to these folks who desperately needed this food, we had to organize it, heat it, serve it up. Some assembly was required.

The room at the mission was filled with people; many of their stories would be tales of woe and tragedy. But we must not forget that these “pieces” are as valuable to God as each of us. Our situations are different, but our souls are the same. Though the puzzle may be more complex and difficult to put together there, some assembly is still required.

As I reflect on this in my daily life as a teacher of Middle School students, I have to constantly tell myself that they, too, are works in progress. They are putting together various pieces of their lives in order to be their own person – and it’s my job (my passion, if you will) to help them along in that journey.

Some assembly required.

Lord, Help me to assemble my life as a model for those I touch in some way today.

AMEN