Protect Your Purpose!
Image of a person placing plastic on their feet before wearing boots
I walk my dog Stella each morning. On one particular morning, it was cold. In fact, the coldest we’ve experienced this season. It was 25 degrees. While I had on layered clothing, covered my head, ears and face, with the exception of my eyes, I was relatively warm with the exception of my hands. I laughed thinking about the fact that my feet were warm. For whatever reason, perhaps the temperature conjured a childhood memory. I thought of how my mother would instruct me to cover each foot with a plastic bag before putting my boots on. I thought of how we strategically placed plastic up to each window in our apartment to keep out the cold. I’m certain we used that substance for other considerations, but it got me to thinking the manner by which we need to engage our protective measures as we navigate what may present as a chilly climate. Sure, we could elect to “take our ball and go home,” but there remains someone or something that needs us to show up, despite the conditions that persist.
We have many reasons, valid ones that may compel us to choose self, but how might we lean into the Holy Spirit and be the hands and feet of Jesus in these last days of 2024 and in the time to come, should the Lord tarry? As a resident of Chicago, the winters were brutal. If the cold were to be a barrier to “going outside,” one would never leave their home. Instead, my mother did what was necessary to provide us with the ability to function inside, coupled with the ability to function outside as well. Thank you Holy Spirit! In the matters of life, God grants us the ability to function internally as well as externally. So, whatever we need to do, to function “in season and out of season,” let’s collectively believe God for it…..and do the work to bring it to fruition.
What does the work look like internally? It might be therapy. It might be walking. Consider prayer and meditation. It could be journaling. It could be sitting still. What does the work look like externally? It might be slowing down enough to call the person who God continues to place on your heart. It might be minimizing your time on the socials. It could be removing yourself from toxic environments and people. In other words, determine your plastic so that you protect your purpose!
I was so struck by the memory of plastic that I looked up the foundation of the word. In etymology, the word "plastic" comes from the Greek word plastikos, which means "capable of being shaped or molded". Isaiah 64:8 reads, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” How might we yield ourselves to the work of God for His glory in all the earth, “plastically” speaking or otherwise?