Harmony is Hard

The other day I was outside taking pictures of a butterfly and the bees that were gracing a bush with their presence. I was watching the butterfly hanging out on a bunch of flowers where there was also a wasp enjoying our brief moment of sunny weather. They were both doing their thing, and pollinating the flowers as they enjoyed the nectar without any squabbling. I could not help but think how crazy that was. That two creatures who are characteristic opposite, at least here, were living together in harmony with each other. Around here, the wasps are evil little jerks who seek us out to chase us. Seriously not pleasant to be around, ever. The butterflies dance in the air with each other and peacefully flit around the flowers enjoying life. Later on in the day, I opened one of my Bible apps and Romans 15:5-6 was the Verse of the Day.

Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice. Romans 15:5-6

I could not help but think about the wasp and the butterfly I had seen earlier and marveled at how God, once again, put nature in front of me to bring His truth to life. I posted the picture on Instagram to share this little bit of truth with anyone who wanted to read about what God had showed me, thinking that was all He had for me. But I was of course, so very wrong.

Live in harmony with one another. Romans 15:5

A quick background. When Paul wrote the letter to the Romans, it was late in his ministry even though it is placed right after the book of Acts in our Bible. The church in Rome had become exceptionally divided in their beliefs in what it meant to be a Jesus follower. The last part of the letter (chapters 12-16) is all about how we, as Jesus followers, no matter our customs or convictions should live together in peace and unity because we are all saved or justified not through the law, but through Jesus who fulfilled the law.

Now back to the verse. This week, I kept rereading the passage. I kept thinking how it was sort of awkwardly worded. Why did Paul say that God is the giver of endurance and encouragement before telling us to live in harmony? Then a conversation with one of my daughters happened. She was expressing how she had to be diligent in order to walk in peace and harmony with some other people she had worked with. It’s not that she doesn’t like these people or that they are mean or anything, it’s just hard to always walk in harmony with them. And immediately the verse came to mind. God is the giver of endurance because living in harmony is HARD. We need endurance in order to walk in harmony with our fellow believers because we all have different opinions, likes and dislikes, thoughts about how to do things best, and strong wills. God did not take a cookie cutter and make a bunch of clones. He created each one of us to be very different from anyone else. God is the giver of encouragement because it can get discouraging to walk in harmony with others when there are great disputes and when others do not care to walk in harmony.

We glorify God when we live in harmony with those that God called us into family with. I am not just talking about our physical family, even though I know all too well how difficult it is to live in harmony with your physical family. But also our spiritual family as well.