Romans 11:11-12
11 So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the gentiles, so as to make Israe jealous. 12 Now if their stumbling means riches for the world and if their loss means riches for gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
Stumbling is one of those things that no one enjoys doing. To stumble, to fall, to miss the mark almost always feels like a tough moment in life. I have to remind myself that in the mistakes comes learning and growth, a small and salvageable moment in what often feels difficult and unwanted. It is true that we often learn the most when things don’t work out as we hope. When doors are shut or we make mistakes, there are opportunities for us to be reflective in a situation and ask the question, “God, where are you calling me to go?” We rarely ask this question when life is going swimmingly, and we are flapping along in the water with no ripples or currents.
In this passage, Paul is helping us the various paths Jews and Gentiles toward become Christian. As we humans still do today, there is a lot of compare and contrast to our own journeys. The grass is always greener on the other side perspective is not new to our generation or our culture. As humans, we compare our journeys to others because we often feel inadequate or that life is unfair. Paul tells us that no matter what your path to God, whether crooked or straight, whether all up hill or seemingly all downhill, we are all included. We can take the learning from our own path and be grateful that we are always included in the family of God. We need to put aside our grumblings as to how we get to God as easier or harder and be grateful that we are all apart. God is good and we each arrive in God’s time.
Prayer
God of welcome, we are grateful that your family is so big and vast, and mostly that we get to be a part. Thank you for loving us in our relationship with you. Help us to learn from our journeys knowing that you catch us when we stumble. Amen.