Outward striving vs. inward yearning
When I serve or worship, how much of myself am I giving… and what are my motivations for doing so?
Time– it’s so precious. I never have enough. When an opportunity to serve the Lord presents itself I am considerate of my time. The question is whether or not my consideration borders on selfishness.
When I first started seriously praying about foster care the infringement on my time was a huge barrier. I didn’t want to give up my time. Who does not like having time to themselves? I knew foster care would eat up most of that time. I received a lot of unsolicited advice and warnings from others in regards to my time. “You won’t be able to just go out to dinner or to a movie.” “What about vacation?” It went on and on. After awhile I just started saying, “Yes, I know.”
After we started doing foster care I didn’t miraculously have more energy and my day did not magically seem longer. Many things went undone, and I was emotionally and physically exhausted.
Of course there were those who said, “See, I told you this would happen.” My response was, “I know.”
However, I started to think of my time as my offering. The question was what was my motivation for serving? Was my sacrifice outward striving or inward yearning? There is a huge difference and unless you have a heart that is fully submitted to the Lord, you may not be able to tell the difference between the two. Outward striving is doing things (serving) because you know it is the right thing to do…
There was a city that was struggling from a water shortage. The residents were asked to use less water and were even offered financial compensation to do so. This did little to improve the shortage. Then, the city told the residents that their water usage would be posted on their website. Miraculously the cities water shortage ended. Why? Because people do not want to look bad. We all want to look good. Who posts terrible pictures of themselves on social media doing mediocre things? No one. Knowing your motives when serving are very important. A good place to start when considering serving is to pray.
Is it something God wants you to do?
As a child, I imagined myself in the throne room lying prostrate and hidden. I imagined God not knowing I was there. Of course He knew. My goal was to just be there next to Him. That is what He desires from all of His children. He wants us to want to be with Him. Sometimes, being with Him means doing hard things and going to hard places. God wants to use us as His hands and feet.
We go for Him, because of Him and with Him wherever He asks.
When you are asked to serve or sacrifice something do you do it because you know that is where God is? When you consider your sacrifice do you consider being with God as the motivating factor? The greater blessing always lies in our sacrifice…. I’m not talking monetarily.. I’m talking about spiritual blessing. Selflessly serving the Lord brings a blessing that far outreaches any worldly blessing we could ever receive.
I want to be where God is and that is why I serve. Now, when someone asks me why or says, “see I told you it would be hard,” my answer will not be “I know.” My answer will be “My heart is to be where He is, so yes, I know it is hard, but I also know it is completely worth it.”
