The text was 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. I noticed in particular verse 18: "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose." This comes right after Paul's arguments that a foot is still part of the body even though it's not a hand and that an ear is still part of the body even though it's not an eye.
Hearing the text this time, I realized that God's "arrang[ing] the members in the body" has a broader sense. It works both within and outside of this illustration. In the immediate context, it refers to the positions of the foot and ear and so on. Since these body parts are acting as metaphors for individuals in the body of Christ, however, there's also a second sense: God puts people in specific places and times.
