Jesus is an Anchor
If you know even a little about nautical experiences then you know that an anchor has a purpose. It is not just the tattoo that Popeye or Navy guys have on their forearms. It is a tool to use when the seas get rocky and start to rock the vessel to and fro. When things get scary utilizing the anchor will keep the ship from sinking or from being overtaken by the waves created by the storm. Our lives have storms and those waves are the problems that come along with the storm. When the seas get rough and we want to keep from sinking in stress and being overwhelmed, keep anchored to Jesus. In Hebrews 6:19 we read "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain..." Jesus is more than a great guy. He is your Lord and Savior and your anchor when problems arise.
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Is God #1
Have you ever read through Exodus and the story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32)? Moses had not yet come down from Mount Sinai and the people, instead of waiting for leadership, talked to Moses' older brother Aaron and asked him to make them a god. Aaron obliged and had them give him their gold and he made it into a golden calf for them to worship and give offerings to. Obviously, what they did was wrong which is why God sent Moses back down the mountain to destroy the idol. While we don't have golden calves in our homes there are things in our lives that get in the way of making God number 1.
Work for many has become God. Think about it, if your boss calls, you answer. Your boss says that you need to come to work and you go without fail. Then when you are at work you work extra hard and get no kudos, but only a bunch of stress. Your health is getting worse and you aren't making time for the people in your life (loved ones, family, friends). And what is most important, you are not making time for God. Remember how upset God was with Cain (Genesis 4) because Cain gave God the leftovers from his sacrifice? God wants you to make Him your priority? Do you only talk to Him when you need him, but never to just thank Him for being an awesome God? I often refer back to the first 4 commandments because they all focus on making God first, especially the 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) which reminds us to have a Sabbath. Take a day off, not just to rest but to also give God His due praise.
Money is another idol people can have as a replacement for God. They do everything they can to make sure that they can make more and more money and spend, spend, spend. They have to have the newest everything (car, phone, gadget) and they do whatever they can to make sure they can afford it. But they haven't seen their Bible or read from a Bible in ages. See the focus here? The focus has moved from God being #1 to money being #1. We must remember that man cannot serve 2 masters as he will love one and hate the other (Matthew 6:24). Jesus said this. Can we really ignore it? We all need to work and make money, but if that is your focus more than serving the Lord and giving back to Him then the priority is not God.
My point is not to condemn people but just to show how easy it is to let other things that are important become more important than what really matters in God's eyes. My prayer is that we all can see those roadblocks in our lives and make sure to make God's will for our lives #1.
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Service When Stressed
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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