This is the season of giving (and perhaps a little chaos as well). And as much as it can warm our hearts to give of our time and energy, sometimes it is easy to get overwhelmed with our commitments.
It is a true joy to serve. Some of my greatest memories and the best friends I have in this life are from time spent volunteering. Time spent working together towards something much greater than ourselves. It is a pleasure to lead and encourage others along the way and at times even more fun to work behind the scenes. And when those opportunities come around, I love to raise my hand (just ask my husband) or perhaps even create a job for myself when I see a need arise. God simply created us to find joy in serving.
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He gave us all gifts (speaking of the giving season) and He calls us to be wise in how we use those gifts to serve others. But He didn’t call each of us to sign up for everything, for us to get sidetracked by going in many different directions, for our families and our health to potentially suffer and for the inevitable chaos to kick in. In fact, sometimes He calls us just to be still. It is in the overwhelming serving phases of my life, that the Lord has begun to teach me how important it is to seek Him first.
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Several years ago, I heard a story about serving and I have found myself reflecting back on it many times in my own life. As the story goes (with perhaps a few variations on my part), the Lord asked one of His children (insert yourself here) to carry a bag (perhaps it was something that needed to be returned) through the city over to an outlet mall on the outskirts of town (who doesn’t appreciate a trip to an outlet mall?). The Lord provided the necessary skills, He allowed for plenty of time to complete the task, and He gave her the equipment she might need (let’s say a really snazzy backpack). She was thrilled the Lord asked her to serve Him. She gladly accepted the bag, placed it carefully in the backpack, strapped it to her back, and set out on the journey. It was a beautiful day, she didn’t feel rushed or worried about the task at hand, but instead took great pleasure in walking through the city even reflecting on how blessed she was to have been called to serve.
Along the way, she said hello to several friends. They kindly asked if while she was traveling to the outlet mall, she might return a few bags for them as well. Of course, she said yes (because that’s what we do). And before long, her backpack was bulging with bags to be returned to the mall. The load became extremely heavy, she began to feel frantic about getting there before the mall closed, and to make matters worse, it started to rain. The chaos had most definitely kicked in. She began to question why she had even said yes to the Lord in the first place. Finally, she just stopped and prayed and asked the Lord why He had given her too much to carry. And as He does with us, He lovingly and gently reminded her that what He had asked her to do was not too much. All the other items she had begun to carry on her shoulders were commitments He didn’t ask her to make.
Over the years, I have started to learn to allow Him to guide my priorities, to seek His wisdom in the best ways to use my gifts, and to trust Him when He calls me to serve outside my comfort zone or to use gifts that I don’t even possess. He certainly doesn’t want us to say “no” to every opportunity because we can be a light in this world by serving, but the right answer isn’t always “yes” either. When we fill up our calendars with what we might think is important, we can certainly miss out on the greater blessings He has in store for us.
Sometimes our best response to serving is “maybe” and then seek the Lord’s wisdom. Ask Him to guide your steps, to help you balance your time and energy, focusing on what He wants for your life and how He desires you to spend your time. The more time we spend in prayer and Bible study each day, the deeper our relationship with Christ will begin to grow. He will be able to guide and direct us so that we will know and understand where He desires our priorities be placed.
My prayer is that we allow Christ to direct our focus. That our time and energy are spent on exactly those opportunities where He desires for us to serve. That we truly hand over our calendars to Him. That we humble ourselves to be His light and love to a world in need. That we offer up whatever gifts we have for His glory. And that when He calls us to serve, we can confidently answer YES knowing He will supply our every need!
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