Bad Form

When we begin preparations for vacation Bible school each summer, one of the things our church Body enjoys is making posters together. Overhead transparencies are made with pictures of this year's clip art, posterboard is taped to the wall, and people of all ages trace and color the myriad of posters that will be used throughout the building.
In the poster-making frenzy a couple of weeks ago, two young men took it into their heads to "get fired." Apparently they were drafted for the job and considered themselves too manly for the task.
I was reminded of the prophet, Samuel, who began service in the tabernacle at a young age. He, too, was drafted for a work that was not his own. And yet, even as a newly weaned little boy, "Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod" (1 Samuel 2:18). He didn't minister to Eli, though he served under him. He didn't minister to the people, though they profited from his example and service. He didn't minister to his family, though they came to visit and brought gifts. Samuel's ministry was to God Himself, and no other. From such a young age, Samuel was aware of God's presence, God's worth, God's provision and position.
What is my form of service? It flows from the object of worship within myself. When God is that object, my service is for Him, to Him, and through Him. When that object is self, all I end up with is a bad poster no one wants and empty hands that lack purpose and direction.
May I, like Samuel, minister before the Lord today....

Stuffed!

Weight has always been an issue for me. Until recently, I joked about my five years of "body bliss" between the ages of 17-22. Then, relaxing into life, I became complacent about body stewardship and the numbers on the scale increased again. The last two years, God has been teaching me obedience and contentment as it relates to body care. And I have found that contentment is often unaddressed in the Christian environment--especially in America.

We eat the wrong food because we are discontent with the right foods. We amass more and more possessions because we are discontent with the ones we have. We fill the courts desiring more money, a different spouse, a sense of justice, discontent with the provision of God. If "the LORD is my portion," (Lamentations 3:24), why am I filling my bowl with so many other, useless things?

Even in the Church, our service is tainted by discontent. Some long to enlarge their boundaries, others desire a better gift. Some, in discontent and envy, refuse to serve at all. Yet "one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11). And should we wonder if Paul might have mistakenly attributed our specific giftings to God, he says later in the same passage, "But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired" (1 Cor. 11:18).

What is your gift or mode of service? If God has given it to you, specifically, to meet the needs of His Body, why are you discontent? What is that bowl in your figurative hands full of?


"Therefore I have hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:24)

"Cease striving and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)

A life with God, a life of service, a life of Godliness is not a life of striving. In the church culture, there is a drive to strive. The 20% who do 80% of the work are exposing their families to a drug culture--where they are drug to church every time the doors are open. We meet, greet, teach, clean, sing, and serve 10-20 hours a week in our local churches. Our families, personal schedules, even our work schedules revolve around the priority of service to our local church. I am a part of that culture. And, yet, I am learning something new. The outside may appear the same, but the inward motivation and thinking are changing.

I have come to realize that a life of service is a life of rest. It is, simply, walk by by faith one day, one hour, at a time. It is depending on God not only to see what needs to be done, but with the confidence that He will empower and equip me for His work. The only work, then, is an exertion that is directed, empowered, and undergirded by God Himself. How hard can it be? It is impossible.

In all honesty, I like to strive. Striving may bring failure, but it also brings achievement, honor, recognition. To lay aside striving is to lay aside my personal means to recognition and achievement. To stop seeking self-gain and depend wholly on the Master is a God-sized task. Only God can replace my desire to strive. I cannot. It is too much a part of who I am.

To surrender my plans and desires requires a renewing of my mind. Jim Berg (Changed Into His Image) tells us it is spending time in God's Word to get a dose of reality. Jim's book explains from the Bible how to apply the principles of putting off my self, renewing my mind, and putting on Godliness.

Once the desire has been replaced (repeatedly, and only on a short-term basis, again and again), God's empowering and enabling is a constant process. I must continue to complete the tasks set before me in faith that God has custom-designed each task and set of circumstances. When I know the objective--the be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-31)--the task before me is simply a vehicle, not an outcome. The goal is to depend on God, by His Spirit, to respond in a way that is loving, kind, and joyful, maintaining peace, gentleness, and faithfulness even as my Savior did (and does).

Cease striving and God will show Himself. He is not glorified or magnified by my self effort. He alone is God. How can I serve, honor, and magnify Him? By resting, waiting, and depending on Him to accomplish His will. By being a conduit of His love and grace. By remaining transparent, invisible, so others will see the Creator in place of the image He created. Service is not striving, it is resting--knowing He is God.