I am usually happy and thankful for opportunities to serve in God’s vineyard or even outside it, as long as it makes my God happy!
so was I when this particular occasion came up to help out in the church.
I had committed hours into preparation in hopes and expectations to help out on the “D” day. Only for the day to come and I was only able to help out for only a few minutes. Because of technical difficulties beyond our control, I was kicked out of the backend and wasn’t able to help.
I was disappointed not to be able to help out after going over the logistics over and over.
In all honesty, I didn’t dwell on it too much or for too long, I thought to myself thankfully, “this will not be the last opportunity for me to serve God or make Him happy through my actions”.
But then I asked the Holy spirit why it had happened that way, what lesson(s) was He trying to show me from this event?
What if this same thing happened on the last day when it really matters, the Holy Spirit asked?
Godforbid! Was my reaction to that question. I really cannot imagine not entering into God’s kingdom after living my life for Him here on earth.
It really will be more than disappointing, gnashing of teeth & endless pain. I started to imagine how I would write a blog post about walking out our salvation with fear and trembling, probably citing the example of Moses who let anger keep him from entering the promised land and the likes….
But then the Holy Spirit said to me: faith, hope & love. The greatest of them all is Love. This is a scripture I am familiar with- I Corinthians 13:13
Serve with Faith, Hope & Love.
Serve in Faith:
It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must first believe that God exists & that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him
Hebrews 11:6
God created us to have constant communion with Him, in the process of communing with Him, He’d give us instructions or tasks to carry out. Sometimes, it may seem absurd looking at it from the human eyes. For example Noah was asked to build an ark when there was no rain or flood whatsoever in sight, in Abraham’s case he left the comfort of His father’s house to go through the discomfort and uncertainties of going through unfamiliar terrains into a land unknown to him- he was following the direction of God. The list goes on… on the pages of scriptures.In Hebrews 11:7-39, it highlights how the faith of men who had lived many years ago served God with great faith and their service in faith were credited to many of them as righteousness in Christ Jesus.
My dear friend in Christ, there will come the time(s) God will give us specific instructions that may not make sense to us initially but it is in our place to obey Him, ask Him questions and it is up to Him to reveal as much as He wants to us. But our aim & goal is to please Him always by our faith.
Our faith & trust in Him to lead us on His path of righteousness for His name sake. – Psalm 23:3
Serve in Hope
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great hope
I Peter 1:3
We live in great hope that one day we also will be raised with Christ and be presented to God, Himself- II Corinthians 4:14.
Therefore, as we live for Christ, as we fellowship with Him, as we serve Him our great hope should not be taken out off sight neither should it be forgotten.Because every of our actions here on earth will be judged and this judgement will determine if we will be raised with Christ or be condemned to death forever.
May our hope in God not be in vain in Jesus name.
Serve in Love
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
I Corinthians 13:1-2
The bible chapter goes on to tell us that if we give all we have to the poor or put our bodies through hardship that we may boast and do everything without love- we gain absolutely nothing. I Corinthians 13:3. This means every service we might say we offer to the Lord without His love budding in our hearts and spilling over to people around us is absolutely useless.
Service to God shouldn’t come from a place of showing off neither should it come from a place of pride nor contempt or eye service or whatever fleshy reasons our bodies may give.
Moreso, our worship of God and service to Him should come from a place of genuine love for Him and not for what He can do for us or what we could get from Him.
I may not have been able to serve at this time as I would have loved to but as often as I breathe, I get the chance to serve God and I should do so in faith, hope and love.
You also should! I pray God helps all to serve Him as He wants and as it pleases Him in Jesus name