Attending to the needs of the Lord, what He deems important for our lives, and what He wants to accomplish through our service to others, still matters in the world we live in.
There was so much I wanted to do and get done, but learning to live life with only one kidney was going to be an adjustment. After donating a kidney to my brother, I struggled in the recovery process because my energy levels were not the same as they once were.
At times, I became frustrated with myself because I would get tired in the middle of the day. As much as I wanted to keep going, my body would say, “Nope. It’s time for a nap.” I found myself battling discouragement because I couldn’t live up to the expectations I was placing on myself.
The frustration and discouragement were only compounded, living in an already life-draining world, with competing agendas vying for whatever time and energy I did have.
It was life in this context, that sparked a renewed interest in the Holy Spirit’s presence, strength and power for my daily life.
Moreover, I decided that if I was going to spend my time and energy on anything, as limited as it was, I needed to focus it on what God deemed important for my life—how I could best serve Him and serve others.
Reframing The Health Journey
Eventually, I came to a point in my health journey when I realized that if the Lord was going to provide the strength and energy I needed, to bring my body back to optimal health, it was not going to be for my own agenda, but for His. It was going to be for something more; something He wanted to accomplish in my life; something that could only be accomplished in His strength and in His power.
I needed to reframe my health journey on serving Him.
As I did this, I revisited a number of verses in the Bible about what it meant to be a servant. One verse in particular stood out to me this time around.
Jesus said, . . .
† ”Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor.“
John 12:26 NRSV
When I read this, I realized God wanted me to focus my time and energy on serving Him.
WHY? Because serving the Lord is where I would find His presence, His strength and His power. For I knew the principle, that when we make the decision to serve the Lord, . . .
God will never ask us to do anything in which He will not empower us to do.
Serving The Lord Makes Our Work Matter
Those first disciples knew the Lord would be sending them all out to work and render service to others in a broken world, filled with broken people. The work would be hard, frustrating and difficult at times.
However, when we can see our work and service to others, as worship unto the Lord, we make His presence known. We offer a solution to the problems people have to deal with, in a way the world could never do; a solution that could also have an eternal impact in their lives.
Think about this:
In ancient times, kings never traveled without servants attending to their needs. The number of people and quality of their service often revealed just how great the one they were serving really was.
For us today, when those we serve observe the quality of our work as something above and beyond what most people do—service fit for our King—it can become a witness to the world that Jesus is alive, He’s with us and still ministering in the world today!
Let me encourage you today:
Attending to the needs of the Lord, what He deems important for our lives, and what He wants to accomplish through our service to others, still matters in the world we live in.
Give your work and service to others, the opportunity to have an eternal impact in their lives by seeing it as service unto the Lord. See your work as something you’re doing to attend to His needs.
When you do this, you’ll always be where the action is at. Never alone, you’ll always be near Jesus, in His presence, and giving Him the opportunity to make His problem-solving presence known in the world we live in.
Let’s PRAY!
Lord Jesus, You promised to never to leave us or forsake us. You provide supernatural strength, energy and wisdom for anything you would ever ask us to do. Grant unto the grace to serve You through the work we find ourselves in today. Maybe there is a change coming, only You know.
In the meantime, help us to hear Your voice, follow Your leading, and serve others in ways that are honoring to You. May those we serve sense Your presence among us. Make our work matter as You make yourself known. May those we serve come to know that You are not dead, but alive, You’re with us, and still ministering in the world today. In Your name, we pray. Amen!
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