Even When We Don't Want To

These days, I hardly have time for anything other than school, piano, and church. I'm booked! Well, a few weeks ago, my dad asked me to contact a friend of his who needs my help for his ministry's event. My dad offered this man my help without letting me know and this guy said yes. So now on top of all my other commitments, I have to add this to my load. I have to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea (beginning with the fact that I had to do computer stuff and I can't do a thing of that without my sister, Juli's help). Well, I had to do it, so I decided to get to work. I emailed the man and began preparing what I needed for that day.

I didn't have the best attitude about it (at least in my heart, anyways) and began to worry about my other commitments. I decided not to worry too much, though, and figured I'd be okay with it all so long as it didn't interfere with my other activities. Well, as the Lord has a sense of humor and wanted to show me something through this all, he led me to this simple, yet profound verse (Ephesians 6:7):

Serve wholeheartedly, as if serving the Lord, not men.

At that moment, I realized that God brought that well known verse to me to remind me of this event. I pondered and reflected on the verse and decided I would do everything about this event wholeheartedly because, after all, I wasn't working for my dad or for his friend, but for the Lord. In the days following that, my dad's friend emailed me about something and included Ephesians 6:7 in the email. I thought it was a cool coincidence. A few days later, he emailed me again letting me know about the rehearsal dates and times. As I looked at them, they were so familiar. They were the two consecutive Saturdays that I knew I'd have piano rehearsals! I was upset at the moment just thinking that I wouldn't be able to participate in these much needed rehearsals. I told my dad and guess what he did! He took his phone, opened the Bible app, searched "Ephesians 6:7" and handed me the phone. I wa pretty shocked considering He didn't know how God was using this verse in my life.

I realized I was having a bad attitude towards this all simply because I didn't want to do it in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to help this guy out, I just have a lot to do right now! Anyways, I realized God was trying to work in my by showing me that I should be serving Him and no one else...even when I don't want to. I decided to stop going against what was going on. I prayed and asked the Lord to change my heart and make me continually focused on Him and Him alone when I was serving this ministry. I missed my piano rehearsal yesterday, but it was worth it. We spent time with this man and his family and some friends and I got to see how the Lord has worked in every one of their lives. They all had a different story to tell and we got to see how God has brought us all together to serve this ministry. I saw how God wanted me to be a part of this. I'm praying now that God provides a way for me to able to attend both rehearsals this upcoming Saturday. I know that when my heart is in the right place, He'll bless me and if it's His will, He'll allow me to attent my piano rehearsal as well.

Many times we fail to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. We fall into discouragement and bad attitudes when serving. Sometimes, our serving in church even becomes routine and we do it simply because it's "our place", even when we don't want to. We need to come to a point that we realize that when we're serving, we're serving Him alone. When we honr those around us, we're honoring God. As we think about where we each serve, let's think and decide for ourselves whether we do it in a wrong or routine way (ex. incorrect attitudes or motives, simply doing it to serve people or be seen by people) and let's decide to do it all for only one motivation- to serve the Lord, even when we don't want to. Ask the Lord to change your heart and put it's focus only on Him if you realize you're not serving the Lord joyfully. I only shared one verse in this entire post. I want us to focus on it alone. Reflect on your own life and where you serve. Do you serve wholeheartedly for the Lord?

~Sophie