What I see is a large recycling bin full of new and used cell phones. They range from the big old Motorola phones that I haven’t seen in years and to the new and modern like the newer androids and iPhones. It stands out to me because of the sheer number of phones that are being placed into this bin. It seems like every person that walks by is dropping a phone or two into the bin and sometimes picking one up. As I am watching I feel like the Lord says to go and have a look at one of the phones. As I do I pick one up and wonder why it was replaced. It says that it belonged to someone that was meant to be a spiritual parent to thousands. Its purpose was to connect with the younger generation and it has hundreds of connections stored on it that will never be used the way that they were meant to be. It hopes that by being recycled its connections will get used by peers. But many people are lacking spiritual parents because of phones like him that weren’t used correctly.
The next phone that I pick up says that was used by a muse. The person who had this phone was a really great man, his primary purpose was to connect people and ideas. He rarely got much credit but he did so much good. This phone seems really proud of the work that they did together. He also tells me that while his former owner isn’t really known for what he did on earth but in heaven they are very impressed.
The next phone I pick up is slightly older, I ask why it is here. The phone says that its purpose was to connect businesses to churches. It was discarded by a businessman that couldn’t cope with the greed and ego he was exposed to and left the phone in a drawer for years. Now none of the connections are relevant. He is going to be scrapped and hopefully will be made into a newer phone. A phone that can fulfill its purpose.
The next phone I am drawn to once belonged to a P.K. or pastor’s kid. It is an old and really beat up phone. I ask the phone why he is here and am told that he was a healing phone that it helped his assigned user get past certain issues by putting them in touch with people who could show them a better way.
The bin seems endless and I see people that were here dropping off a phone only moments ago picking their phones back up and others trading. It all seems very natural and constructive for the most part. I start to wonder what do these phones represent, what do they stand for? Is it callings, gifting, life purposes? As I ask the Lord I feel that I am shown something that I had never really thought of before. Calling, purpose, destiny are all good and worth pursuing. But, it is the relationships that are sown and reaped along the way that often have the deeper lasting impact. These relationships and how we handle them are what make us the people that we become. People misunderstand and try to become more gifted, more knowledgeable, and more righteous in their eyes and miss out on one of life’s greatest things. Relationship and helping others get to where they are going.
It is hard to help others get where they are going if you fear being insignificant. It is nearly impossible to fulfill your own purpose in Christ without pushing others forward. I ask the Lord how to respond to this and feel that he is saying the house is getting cleaned. The pecking order is getting rearranged. Things that seemed important a month, a year, five years ago will cease to make an impression. Service will be required.
