In the Measure of Every Part

(Inspired by Ephesians 4:16 “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”)

The Head gives signal—quiet as breath—
and somewhere in the unseen places
the body waketh.
Not first in hands or feet,
but in the hidden hinges:
bones recalling their appointed places,
sinews drawing close what once hung loose,
soft cords of grace pulling near
what would have drifted far.

Not all light comes as lightning.
Often it is a lamp in a small room,
steady on a worn-out table:
a name carried into prayer at midnight,
a simple meal walked through cold rain,
a text that says, “I have not forgotten you.”
These are the gentle currents that move the body,
the quiet voltages of love
that no crowd ever sees.

What every joint supplieth is never the same,
and that is the mercy of it:
the listening ear that lets sorrow finish its sentence,
the steadfast knee that bends again in intercession,
the calloused palm that will not drop the plow,
the watchful eye that notices the one who slips away.
Each part receives only a measured grace,
yet somehow gives back more than it can explain.

We are not a crowd but a body,
not applause but pulse.
Hope travels from heart to hand
long before the deed is noticed.
Truth learns the slow path from tendon to tongue
before a single word is spoken.
Mercy practices its steps in the dark
so that, in the day, our feet
know how to go where the hurt is.

So bring the portion trusted to you—
your little oil, your quiet loaves, your word, your tear—
and lay them where His hands may bless.
Watch the whole rise taller with praise,
sinew meeting bone,
weak places braced by willing ones,
each part fitted, knit, and kindled
till love builds whatever it touches,
and Christ is not only named among us,
but seen.

If this poem stirred something in your heart, remember that the deepest roots grow from God’s Word itself. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). If you’d like simple, practical help in tucking Scripture into memory…

👉 Sign up for the free FAST Crash Course in Bible Memorization: http://fast.st/cc/21419