The body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? Your present labor under the sun is a member's service, not the whole body's dishonor. God has set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased Him. The hand cannot say to the foot, I have no need of you. The heat that you endure is the suffering of one member, and when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Do not despise your own place, for the head itself, which is Christ, supplies nourishment to every part through the joints and bands, and every part, by that which it supplies, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. The spirit that flows from the head touches each member according to its measure. If you were torn from this body by impatience, that supply could not reach you. The itching, the weariness, the biting insects, these are your present portion, but they are not your identity. They are a shadow of trouble, not the substance of your life. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened.
You cry out against the man at church who asks you repeatedly about your work. He is a brother, a member. Look not on him with vexation, but separate your irritation from the charity that is due. Take no pleasure in sharp retorts, but amend the evil by gentle wisdom. He who is weak, I would be weak with him; who is offended, and I burn not? The apostle himself burned with fire when a member was offended. Yet he did not answer a fool according to his folly, lest he also be like unto him. You have tried to change the subject, as one would turn a horse from a precipice. If he does not see your discomfort, then your words must be not mean ones, but true ones, spoken in love. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Perhaps you could say plainly, "Brother, the labor is a heavy cross for me, and every mention of it awakens the pain. Pray for me rather than question me." This is the touch of the supply, the sensitive faculty of the spirit, communicating care from one member to another. To stir up strife is for shameless persons; to endure foolish questions with patience is for the soldier of Christ. Have your loins girt about with truth. Lust for ease is a mockery and a lie; the thing you seek in escaping heat is not true pleasure but a shadow of pleasure. True pleasure is found in temperance, in orderly behavior, in fulfilling the task appointed until God opens another door.
You long to send videos to Christian services, to be shown on national streaming or TV before your next birthday. This hope is not lost, but it must be offered up with open hands. The body is not one member. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all speak with tongues? God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way. If you have a gift, it will make room for you, not by your own striving but by the head's supply in the measure of every part. The voice you wish to lend to Christian service, the acting you desire to pursue in shady places, these are good desires if they be seasoned with this truth: Not my will, but Thine be done. The heat you hate may be the very furnace in which God is refining your patience, and patience, when it has had its perfect work, leads to a crown. Do not say you have faced discrimination, humiliation, and near death from the sun without reason. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Your father, who refused a short walk in the heat, is a mirror for you, not in hypocrisy but in human frailty. All men shrink from suffering. Yet you have endured hours what he could not endure an hour. This is not a small thing in God's sight. The sun makes you itch and robs you of energy. The apostle knew a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. For this thing he besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from him. And He said unto him, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will you rather glory in your infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon you. The heat is your thorn, but the thorn is given lest you should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations you hope for in the future.
You ask that hope not be lost, meantime. Hope is the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. But how shall you possess this anchor if you neglect the cable that ties you to it? You are subjecting yourself to poverty of soul when you do not apply yourself to the reading of the Scriptures. When are we to apply ourselves to the real practice of virtue, we who do not so much as know the very laws according to which our practice should be guided? Forgetfulness is a moth wasting the garments of the mind. Shake out your soul by conversing with the holy books. Acquaint yourself with the members and the head of virtue. Look continually upon the image of patience, which is Christ. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. The luxury of a cool room, a studio free from bugs, a career of ease in voice acting, these give a pleasure that goes no further than the palate and the tongue. When the table is removed, and the ease swallowed, you will bear from it obesity of soul, and a sleep like death, if God is not in it. But the bread of affliction, eaten in the will of God, leaves no curse of repletion but the strength of Christ.
Do not send a message to your church friends to enforce their silence; rather send a message of your own need. The body is not disjoined from the spirit, for then would it not be a body. If there be one head, then is there one body. That body is composed of members both honorable and dishonorable. Only the greater is not to rise up even against the meanest, nor this latter to envy the other. You who labor in the heat are an honorable member, though you feel dishonorable. The man who questions you is a principal member perhaps in his own eyes, yet he needs the foot as much as the foot needs the head. All are formed for necessary and for different purposes, all are of equal honor in Christ. To live without the head is impossible; many persons have lived for a long time with their feet cut off, but this amputated life is no life at all. You are not cut off. You are joined to the body of the Corinthian Church, which is a part of the Church in every part of the world. Not only with yourselves alone, but also with the whole Church throughout the word, you ought to be at peace, if at least you be members of the whole body. The man who asks is a member; the parents who do not understand are members; the Christian services you hope to reach are members. If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Let your suffering be known, not in angry clamor but in the quiet communication of need. Let them know you are weak, and then the strong can bear your infirmities. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Therefore, let not your prayer be only "Make it stop," but also "Make me able to stand." Having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The heat is a fiery dart, but the shield is faith. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Your birthday desire, your video hopes, your acting dreams, these are not forgotten by the Head. But the supply comes by the touch of sensitive love, in the measure of every single member. If the Lord wills, you will send those videos. If He wills, one will be shown. If He wills not, He has a better thing: Himself. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. No longer curse the heat as a belly that craves too much ease; bless the Lord who girds you with strength to endure. The sun that makes you itch is a tutor to draw you to the shade of the Almighty. The insects that bite are a reminder that this world is not your home. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.