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| Blog-love thy enemy |
| Blog-serving others |
SERVING OTHERS – HOW TO BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE
As time goes on I’ve discovered a fairly new trait about myself that I’m surprised I’ve never discovered before. The only reason I can think that is, is because God was waiting for the right time to reveal this to me when I’d be better able to use it. That trait is the desire to help others.
Okay, I know you’re probably feeling a bit disappointed at hearing that – I mean, big whoop-di-doo, right? We all help someone at some time or other in our life, so what’s really the big deal about that? Well, for me it is a big deal, especially as I’m starting to recognize, more and more, that this is a desire that God put in my heart. For me it’s no longer about helping those who require or ask for help, it’s about actually looking for ways to help. Don’t just wait for the desperate and needy to come knocking on your door; rather open your door, step out and go find those in need.
Now, I’m not just talking about the financially destitute or homeless people here either. You’d be amazed at what help an average, run of the mill person may need. It could be your neighbor, work colleague, fellow grocery shopper, anyone. Don’t ignore the obvious and don’t overlook a person needing help simply because you don’t consider them poor enough to make it onto your charity list.
Being a big Joyce Meyer fan, I was challenged when I heard her talking about being a blessing to others. I have the benefit of listening to her everyday on Highway Radio and a few weeks ago she was talking about her daughter who is gifted at blessing other people. One such blessing was when she put a $50 note into an envelope with a letter and gave it (or left it somewhere, I can’t remember) to the local garbage man who collected the municipal rubbish in her street every week. The letter simply said that she was grateful for the work he did and that he must please take the money and buy himself lunch. Listening to that I thought to myself, “Wow! I want to do things like that.” That’s when it hit me that despite the good intentions I may have, I’m not doing enough to actually look for ways to bless others. The main reason for this is that blessing others is not a natural human trait and that if we don’t do it often enough, we simply forget to. Despite a willingness we may have to be a blessing to others, we need to train ourselves and get ourselves into the habit of thinking of others on purpose. What a revelation that was to me.
After hearing that, an opportunity to put what I heard into practice arose shortly thereafter. A work colleague and I came across a client whom neither of us had actually dealt with at that point in any other way other than by letter. She had been involved in a small motor accident, which was not her fault, and was distraught as she used her vehicle for her business and could not afford for it to be off the road at all to be repaired, nor could she afford to pay her basic excess. She was an elderly lady living alone at home and had no one to turn to. My colleague, whilst comforting our crying client in the boardroom, used the opportunity to witness to her about the love and faithfulness of God. The client then admitted that she had lost all faith in God when her daughter died a few years ago in a car accident, but it seemed that she was again open to the idea of Him. She even went on to say that she was very much touched by the comfort and wisdom that my colleague had given her.
We then decided to send out an e-mail to all our Christian friends, offering them all the opportunity to be involved with what we termed “Christian Mischief”. We requested for them to all make an anonymous donation to this client of ours, using something Christian as a reference. “Jesus loves you” and “Miracle” were two of the references which were used. Can you imagine the look on this clients face when she draws a statement and finds extra money in her account and reading the references next to those deposits? Approximately R500 was deposited to this client and I am planning on making another small deposit at the end of this month. After all, who ever said that we’re only allowed to bless the same person once?
Today I heard Joyce Meyer say that she’s going to bless people, and if God doesn’t want her to bless someone then He’ll have to stop her. She went on to say that so often, if we feel that God is telling us to bless someone, we tend to require 5 confirmations, 3 prophesies and 2 angelic appearances before we will do it. We should rather be the opposite; instead of waiting for God to “force” us to bless someone, we should instead say, “Lord, I’m going to bless that person, and if You don’t want me to then You must stop me.” What a revelation that was and it’s encouraged me to look harder. Jesus lived by example when it came to serving others and we can do no less than to follow His lead.
I have also recently had the opportunity to buy some groceries for another work colleague, contribute financially towards someone’s petrol and to use my car to ferry those without transport around Pinetown. I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunities from God to be a blessing to others. That’s right, being a blessing is a privilege. We must never forget that and we in turn will be blessed for the blessings going out from us. But don’t wait to be blessed before you will bless others, just go ahead and do it. Open yourself up to God and He will show you an opportunity to help someone else.
And don’t feel despondent or disappointed if you don’t have the opportunity to see the fruits of your blessing. Just bless, bless and keep blessing. Leave the results up to God and just accept that we’re not always going to see the outcome.
Now, like many Christians, I wake up every morning wanting to be a better person in Christ because God is the source of my happiness and not living after His image simply takes the meaning out of life. If we’re not living for God, then what’s the point of life? However, like every other person, I fail so miserably at my attempt that it hardly looks like I’ve put in any effort at all. But you know what? It doesn’t actually matter because I’d rather try sincerely and fail than to try with arrogance and succeed. That sort of success, as the Bible says, is like a filthy rag to God. God judges the condition of the heart, not the deeds (which actually go hand-in-hand, however, as the state of the heart will produce deeds of an equivalent nature). We need to learn to love on purpose and allow ourselves to be conformed in the image of Christ and not of this world, even if (and I’ve experienced this personally) it means rejection, persecution and suffering. Very often judgment comes from those who know us least or those who have the least right to judge, but it comes nonetheless, and it’s how we stand against it that will be our testimony or our downfall.
2 Timothy 3:12
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
What actually breaks my heart the most is not that I’m persecuted, but that those doing the persecuting are doing so because they do not know God nor have experienced the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
I would like to encourage you all, while we are here on earth and are still able, to be a blessing to others and to be strong in the face of persecution of those who will always judge you and find fault in whatever you do, no matter how sincere or good your intentions may be.
The devil will always use someone to tear down in you that which God is trying to build up. And remember, pain is inevitable but misery is optional.
So go on – be a blessing – God dares you.
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