For the last few weeks I have had several stressors in my life and a big one which was a lot of school work. That sense of stress felt very overwhelming. I felt like I wasn't going to get everything finished or tended to. I even had two dreams/nightmares Saturday night that my projects were not completed by the rights dates and were incomplete. Pretty scary stuff. But today I realized, after 80% of the stress was completed, I really had been focusing on myself for a while. I wasn't making time to spend with people. I would have a phone call here or there, but I wasn't making time to sit with people face to face. I also wasn't serving in areas where God has shaped me. I was focusing WAY TOO MUCH on myself. Then Monday night, I went for a drive and passed by a homeless man sitting on a bus stop with what appeared to be all of his belongings. Before I left the house I took a cold water bottle with me. I keep these water bottles with me for the homeless people that I see. I was able to give that homeless man that cold water bottle. He didn't speak much English, but was able to say thank you.
When we serve, it is not out of pressure from others. We serve out of our hearts and souls with our body in alignment with God's will in Christ's name for the benefit of those in need to glorify the Kingdom. Matthew 25:40, Jesus tells us that what we do for the least of his brothers (all people) then it is like doing it for him. We don't serve for photo opportunities or to brag about it on social media, we serve out of love, plain and simple.
By serving in this way, I get to see how something so simple and easy something easy for me can mean so much to someone else. I repeated what I did by giving out two more water bottles last night to another homeless man who resides on a bus stop by my school. I even put the bottles in the freezer for a bit so they would be cool for him when he received them. I do this out of love and their necessity to honor God. The next time you feel stressed, try taking the focus off of yourself and put it onto something else that God could want from you. If you don't know what it is like to know that you have been serving a purpose, I can't explain it, but it is very humbling.
How will you be serving in the future?
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Wish this had a like button! I serve yes... for all those reasons BUT, when I'm called to serve someone else, I end up so incredibly blessed by the experience that I see it as a gift from God, to me. Also, the recipient remembers it waaay longer than I do. If I could remember EVERY TIME I've served someone else then I haven't done it frequently enough! :-) CHOOSE to make it an awesome day!
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ReplyDeleteIt does feel great to serve. People love to be served when they are in need. We think we may not have much and do not give out of the much we have, but in reality we do have a lot and often give a little from the much we have. Time for a change in Jesus' name for his sake.
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