Five Chairs at the Table

As I was in the process of moving from the only home I had ever known to my new life in North Carolina, I had the unenviable task of deciding which of my family’s heirlooms, keepsakes, and furniture to take with me, and which to sell or give away.  I couldn’t afford to take it all across country and I knew my little apartment wouldn’t house it all.  One of the things I chose to give away was the dining room table and chairs my parents had bought when they first moved into the house. I had so many good memories around that table, but it was worn and I wanted something that I could create my own new memories around. I gave it to a friend who will cherish it, and looked forward to picking out something that was uniquely me.

Six is a good, normal number for a dining room set.

As soon as I got moved in, I began shopping for a dining room set.  I enjoyed looking at all the styles, colors, and arrangements.  I finally found the perfect one – a square table with four chairs that had a hidden leaf that could expand it to fit six people.  It was beautiful and exactly my style.  I immediately ordered it, and ordered a pair of extra chairs to go with it.  I didn’t think about how many chairs I was ordering really.  They came in pairs and six is a good, normal number for a dining room set.

I realized that it is next to impossible to buy a set with five chairs.

It wasn’t until later, as I was assembling my dining room set, that something from my childhood struck me.  The dining room table I grew up with had five chairs.  Not four chairs and a bench that would seat two – five chairs.  I had never thought about it.  After all, it perfectly fit my family – parents, two brothers and me.  But now, as I had looked at hundreds of dining room sets, I realized that it is next to impossible to buy a set with five chairs.  You would almost have to buy six and throw one away.  And it wasn’t even that we never needed the extra chair.  My grandma came and ate with us often.  Strange that we would have to use a folding chair.

My parents had no idea how big their family would be.

I had heard the story of the fifth chair, of course.  When my parents bought the dining room set, they realized after it was delivered that one of the chairs had a broken rung in the back.  They contacted the furniture store, which allowed them to keep the broken chair at no cost, and sent them a replacement as well.  Five chairs at the table.  When they bought the set, they didn’t have a family yet.  They were newly married and were picking out their first household furniture together.  They had no idea how big their family would be. It was just a coincidence that they ended up with an extra chair.

The more my walk with God deepens, the less I believe in coincidence. 

Or was it? The more my walk with God deepens and I see the way He is in every little detail of my life, the less I believe in coincidence.  God already knows everything.  I believe that He is constantly working behind the scenes in the smallest of details, planning for us and providing for us.  I believe that sometimes He even builds in little moments and details that, if we are watching for Him, show us that He is there and always has been there with us.  I believe that the extra chair was one of those moments.

I cherish this little reminder that God already knew about me and my brothers. 

I cherish this little reminder that God already knew about me and my brothers.  I cherish that sign that He had a family already prepared for me to be a part of.  I cherish it so much because I am adopted.  I didn’t always know I was adopted and when I found out, it was difficult because it made me question whether I was just a mistake.  I was grateful for the family that I was adopted into and grateful that my birth mother chose to carry me and give me a chance at a good life.  But I felt like an accident – a coincidence – a fluke.  I had certainly not been planned for nor expected.  I was struggling with my identity and value at that point anyhow, having not yet turned my life over to Jesus.  This just cemented my doubts about whether God really saw me and loved me.

He always gives me some small detail that reminds me that I have always been on His mind. 

It took time and submitting myself fully to following Jesus before I began to believe that God did know and love and plan for me, long before I was ever born.  It took time to believe that He was there the moment I was conceived and He has been there every moment since.  Sometimes, when things are hard and I feel alone, I still cry out asking Him if He is there.  And He always is.  He always finds a way for me to know that He is present.  He always gives me some small detail that reminds me that I have always been on His mind. 

God knew that some day a little girl that needed a home was going to need a chair at the table.

The day I unpacked and assembled my furniture was a tough day.  I was so new to North Carolina and the reality of how really far I am from the home I had always known was sinking in.  I had also had a couple of very disheartening experiences that made me question whether God was really behind this move or not.  What a perfect day to be reminded of the fifth chair at the table.  My parents didn’t know they were going to adopt me when they bought that table – my adoption was many years down the road.  They didn’t know that we were going to be a family of five.  But God knew.  God knew that some day a little girl that needed a home was going to need a chair at the table.  He knew that some day she was going to need to know that she wasn’t a mistake and that He had known her and loved her from the beginning.

That is the character of the God that created us. 

That is the character of the God that created us.  Not only did He have a chair ready for me, He gave me a good home where I was raised with opportunities and adventures and amazing holidays.  Where I had parents who chose me to belong to them, and brothers that to this day watch over their little sister.  He also knew of all the challenges and struggles I would face in life.  He prepared for all of those.  And He knew the exact moment when my heart would be ready to submit to Him and start walking in relationship with Him.  He prepared a way for that, too.

I now have a chair at God’s table that is prepared and waiting for me.

The Bible tells me that I now have a chair at God’s table that is prepared and waiting for me, just like I had growing up.  I am adopted into His family as His daughter.  Ephesians 1:5 tells us, “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what He wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure.” (NLT)  I am not just His creation.  I am not just something that happened to come into existence.  I am a full-fledged member of the family, just as I was full-fledged member of my human family.  I have all the love, all the rights, all the inheritance, and all the relationship that belong to me as a child of my Father.  He knew that before He created anything.  He prepared for it.  He looked forward to it with pleasure. Jesus tells me He has the chair ready:  “In my Father’s house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:2-3 (ESV)

God gave His Son up to be broken to make a place for you. 

It is not lost on me that I had a place at the dining room table because of something that was broken.  If the chair had not been broken, there would never have been the extra chair so that we could all have a seat.  God wants you to have a chair at His table.  He wants it so much that He gave His Son up to be broken to make a place for you.  He knew that because of His holiness and our sinfulness, we would never be able to sit at the table with Him any other way.  Just like Ephesians said, God brings us into His family through His Son.  That is how much He wants us and love us and looks forward to spending eternity with us. 

He makes it so easy to be a part of His family.

He makes it so easy to be a part of His family.  All you have to do is accept Jesus and the sacrifice He made.  John 14:4-7 goes on to tell us this.  After telling the disciples that He was going to prepare a way for them, Jesus tells them how to get there:  “’And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (ESV)

Your chair is waiting.

The day I bowed down and submitted to Jesus as my Lord and my Savior – the day I recognized Him as the Son of God and admitted that I was unable to save myself – the day I recognized that Jesus was crucified so I could be with my Father – I gained my chair at the table.  God wants everyone to have a chair at the table.  I want to see you sitting at the table.  If you haven’t already, please turn your life over to the One who went to make that place for you.  Let Jesus be your Savior.  He died to give that gift to you. It is going to change your life and your eternity. Your chair is waiting.

I hope today’s message touched your heart, increased your understanding, and encouraged you.  Praying the peace and comfort of Christ Jesus on your life.