Have you ever noticed that serving is never convenient. The opportunity comes along either at a time when you had something else planned or conditions were not the best.
Let's take a look at the most famous servant of all, God, to see how to handle serving when other things were planned or when the conditions were not the best.
Matthew 14: 13 Now when Jesus heard it, (about the death of John the Baptist), He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself; and when the multitudes heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15 And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, "The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
{Now when first reading this we get the picture that the disciples had compassion for the people too. That they wanted the best for the people. It was probably more like, "We are tired and hungry so let's send the mob back to the city."} The time was not a convenient time and they had a short vacation planned.
16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!"
17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." {They thought that surely with that little food Jesus would agree to send them back to the city.}
18 And He said, "Bring them her to Me."
We know the rest of the story He had them sit, thanked the Father for what was provided, then fed the five thousand.
Let's look at one more time when it was inconvenient for the Master to serve. It is found in John 13.
John 13: 3-5 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Consider for a moment these two examples of serving:
In the first, the disciples had just returned from having been sent out by Jesus and were in need of rest (a vacation). Jesus had just heard of the beheading of John and had a heavy heart. It was not a convenient time for five thousand needy people to show up.
In the second, Jesus knew that He was going to face a long night of pain and suffering with the crucifixion following. Certainly the conditions were not best for taking a bowl of water and a towel to wash the feet of his weak disciples.
Here is what I get from these two examples: The creator of everything saw it more important to serve than to be served even at times it was not convenient and conditions were not best.
When I think of these two examples and I look at the opportunities that God brings into my life to serve others the timing is often inconvenient and the conditions are rarely perfect.
I encourage you when faced with inconvenience and bad timing at an opportunity to serve to go a head and do it. I know that God will make the inconvenience and bad timing easy to bear because you will see the joy it brings to the one being served. More than that your actions will bring glory to God.
Let's take a look at the most famous servant of all, God, to see how to handle serving when other things were planned or when the conditions were not the best.
Matthew 14: 13 Now when Jesus heard it, (about the death of John the Baptist), He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself; and when the multitudes heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15 And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, "The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
{Now when first reading this we get the picture that the disciples had compassion for the people too. That they wanted the best for the people. It was probably more like, "We are tired and hungry so let's send the mob back to the city."} The time was not a convenient time and they had a short vacation planned.
16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!"
17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." {They thought that surely with that little food Jesus would agree to send them back to the city.}
18 And He said, "Bring them her to Me."
We know the rest of the story He had them sit, thanked the Father for what was provided, then fed the five thousand.
Let's look at one more time when it was inconvenient for the Master to serve. It is found in John 13.
John 13: 3-5 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Consider for a moment these two examples of serving:
In the first, the disciples had just returned from having been sent out by Jesus and were in need of rest (a vacation). Jesus had just heard of the beheading of John and had a heavy heart. It was not a convenient time for five thousand needy people to show up.
In the second, Jesus knew that He was going to face a long night of pain and suffering with the crucifixion following. Certainly the conditions were not best for taking a bowl of water and a towel to wash the feet of his weak disciples.
Here is what I get from these two examples: The creator of everything saw it more important to serve than to be served even at times it was not convenient and conditions were not best.
When I think of these two examples and I look at the opportunities that God brings into my life to serve others the timing is often inconvenient and the conditions are rarely perfect.
I encourage you when faced with inconvenience and bad timing at an opportunity to serve to go a head and do it. I know that God will make the inconvenience and bad timing easy to bear because you will see the joy it brings to the one being served. More than that your actions will bring glory to God.
1 comment:
Absolutely. How can we not obey the voice of the Lord whether it's convenient or not?! How can we not follow through in our commitment to one another and to God ... even in the midst of adversity?! We have nothing to lose but our pride and everything to gain ... including the Kingdom!
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