One of a kind

Pillows fluffed, bed stand light on, and a good book in hand. I am ready for the perfect evening. A dear friend has given me an original copy of Alice in Wonderland and I have been waiting for this night for weeks - just a night when there was nothing else planned and I could settle in and enjoy this book.

But two chapters in, and the room goes dark. Darn it, the lightbulb burned out. Now I’m going to have to see if I have a spare lightbulb stashed away somewhere. Sure enough, in the linen closet, I have an extra. And in just a few minutes, I am back on track.

It’s funny how we take things like that for granted. Replacing a lightbulb. Maybe even the fact that we had it in the closet and we had light again in a matter of moments. Life is pretty easy. Easy as replacing a lightbulb. But what if you are the lightbulb? That’s how I’ve been feeling lately…

Replaceable.

I often wonder if I’m the only one that feels like this, so replaceable. Trust me, I know it’s the disconnect between my head and my heart. That 18 inch journey that takes me days, weeks, even months sometimes to travel. But seriously, how replaceable am I?

I wear many hats. We all do throughout our lifetime. Daughter, sister, wife, mom, friend, neighbor, girlfriend, coworker, employee - the list could go on and on. But whose daughter am I? Am I the adopted daughter? Or the one you gave away? Whose sister am I? Am I the one you grew up with... or the one you didn't know you had and went searching for? What about the wife or the girlfriend? Which one was I? The one you made all the promises to, or the one left behind as I watched and you fulfilled all those promises for someone else?

And then there's always work. Do any of us ever feel truly appreciated at work? Even on our best days, it's hard to avoid stress in the work place. Maybe I've been lucky, but over the years I have been very fortunate in that, I have truly enjoyed most of my jobs. Even if they were stressful at times, I enjoyed what I was doing, so I could get through the stress - it was worth it. It was always PEOPLE that made me not like my job, not the actual job. People and their attitudes always caused me to not like my job.

Recently, a friend and I were discussing jobs and stress and switching positions, and she said something that caught my attention. And it's been rolling around in my head now for weeks. She said, "You know, if something terrible were to happen to you, they would have an ad in the newspaper for your position before we ever had the chance to plan your funeral." And even though we joked and laughed about it, she was right. We are all replaceable. Our jobs are just that... a job.

No matter what we do for a living, we're not so special or so unique that someone can't replace us. We may have some talents that come in handy or taken advantage of on occasion, but they are not going to be unique enough to keep you under any circumstance. And we all know that a passion and a heart for something only gets you one thing... a passion and a heart for something.

In the end, I'm back to being replaceable. Just like that lightbulb. I'm sitting here thinking there's nothing special about me. It would be nice to have something, anything, uniquely special about me. But as I'm typing this, I'm looking at the lightbulb. It doesn't look like much, but what would we do without it? Sitting in the box in the closet, it's nothing special either. But plug it in and WOW! Now we're talking! Connect it to the source of power it needs, and it's magic... it's powerful.

So maybe when I'm feeling so replaceable, I'm just not plugged in. I'm sitting in the closet, away from my source of power. I need to get connected to the power in order to shine. Romans 10:17 says "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." There's power in His word.

And I may not be unique on this earth, but I am unique to God. Even the hairs of my head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:30) He knows me. (1 Corinthians 8:3) My days were written in the book of life before I was formed. (Psalm 139:16) And I know He has a plan for me. (Jeremiah 29:11) And to be loved by the Creator, deemed forgiven by the One who was willing to trade His life for mine, is all I need.

On earth I am replaceable. I can live with that. This lightbulb will burn out and you can just pick out a new one - in whatever shape and brightness you prefer. But in God's world, when the lamp breaks, His light shines through the cracks for all eternity to see. And you can't find a replacement bulb for that one. That one is permanent.

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”