Improving our Serve

Acts 6: 1-7

As the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased, the Grecian Jews felt discriminated against the Hebraic Jews and complained that their widows were being overlooked.
The twelve apostles were increasingly having their hands full preaching the gospel and dealing with practical things, and realized something needed to be done in order for things to run more smoothly. Their main task of preaching the gospel would suffer if they also had to look after the daily tasks of providing food for the many believers who had everything in common. Both were important ministries, but coulnd’t be done well at the same time.

The Twelve brought it up during a meeting with the disciples and asked them to choose seven men who were known not only to be spritiual, but also wise.
This God-inspired decision brought forth seven believers who used their spiritual talents to serve in a practical way – serving tables and doing menial tasks.

Because they were obedient to God’s call, the Twelve now were free to devote all their time to spread the Word of God, with great results. Acts 6 tells us that the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and even a large number of priests became to believe in Yeshua.

In the Body of Christ, each of us has an important task to fulfill, but not everyone of us can be a preacher. Often, believers have a distorted idea of what it means to serve God. They prefer to be active in spiritual ‘glamorous’ activities – worship leader, youth leader, Bible study leader, etc. And if they can’t function as a leader, it sounds more ‘spiritual’ to say they can’t be put on the roster to help clean the church because they’re going to the Bible study or prayer meeting.

Why is it always so hard to get volunteers for helping clean up after a meeting? Why is it that always the same people are rolling up their sleeves?

What is often overlooked in the midst of our busy lives is the ‘helping’ – unfortunately a tainted word in our selfish society. But it can be taught and developed, and the best example we have from Yeshua himself: washing the disciples’ feet. O yes, believers can participate once in a while in those ‘foot washing’ ceremonies that are so popular nowadays. But it’s a one time thing, and everyone can see how ‘spiritual’ they are, washing each others feet. However, when you ask them to help wash the coffee cups after the service, they suddenly have other, pressing business to attend to.

Serving is a life style, which is just as spiritual as preaching the Word, or being a worship leader. The difference is that it’s usually done in hidden corners, where not many people see what you’re doing. We should ask ourselves what our motivation is: do we like to serve in the spotlight because it boosts our ego, (and we receive an instant reward) or serve in ‘secret’? This is often without an earthly reward and sometimes we are overlooked or ignored.

We should always keep in mind Who we serve. God promises us a heavenly reward if we continue to be faithful to our calling, in which ever capacity that may be: serving him in the spotlight, or in the hidden places.

God knows our heart, when He calls us to serve Him and we are obedient to that call, it’s up to us to be faithful. He will honor our commitment. Even when serving coffee - a menial task - we may do it 'as if unto the Lord'.
“Work for God. The pay may not be much, but the retirement plan is ‘out of this world’!”

The Gate of the Year

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness

and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God

Trod gladly into the night.

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!

What need our human life to know

If God has comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things

Both high and low, God hides his intention."



By Minnie Louise Haskins (1908)
See "Called to Write" blog for background information about this poem.

Treasures of Darkness

“I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who called you by your name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:3

Darkness in our lives can come as a result from our (wrong) choices; it can be spiritual, when we live in disobedience to God’s word. There is also the darkness of evil, which we sense.
However, sometimes the darkness in our life comes without a reason, nor was it caused by something we did or didn’t.
It’s not that God causes bad things to happen to us. We live in a fallen world and bad things happen, also to good people. Sometimes we descend into dark despair after being unjustly or badly treated, and it is felt extra when caused by other believers.
When we’re in the midst of it, it’s hard to accept that God works in the deepest darkness of our lives. Although our mind knows that His presence and light are there for us, our hearts find it difficult to grasp it.
Only when we make a conscious choice to open our eyes, God will help us to see the good He brings out of every situation.

Sometimes God allows things to get very dark in our lives because He wants to teach about Himself, because He wants us to grow.
Unfortunately for us, some things cannot be taught in any other setting than darkness. But it’s a place where treasures can be found.

When there’s a power outage at night you can’t see a thing – you grope around you, reach out to feel something familiar to hold on to, step carefully until you find a source of light. It can be a family member who beckons you with a flashlight, and you gratefully walk towards it.
In the darkness of our lives, God wants to be that light ~ we can reach out to Him, grab his strong hand as He guides us through the darkness.

At times it may feel as if God lets our grope around all alone, as if He abandoned us to our fate. But even when it appears our life is over, and all that is left for us is utter despair and darkness, God actually is growing us into our future.

When we find ourselves in such a dark, gloomy period in our lives, the enemy gladly whispers in our ears that we surely must be out of the will of God. But when you know that you’ve been living in obedience to God’s word, this darkness places you more probably in the centre of His will!

Feelings are bad guides. We may feel that God has abandoned us in our miserable circumstances, left us alone to wander around aimlessly, without seeing a clear path to walk on.
Take heart, and joyfully start looking for the treasures God has in store for you!
As we make an effort to use this time of darkness to let God’s light in us grow brighter, He will reach out. All we have to take His hand, and walk with Him.

What may seem to be the darkest step we’ve ever been on, can be just one step away from the lightest light we’ve ever experienced. (And I can assure you ~ it's not the oncoming train!)

A beautiful boy!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time…” Eccl. 3:11

Before we were to meet our new handicapped foster child for the first time, the social worker warned us we would receive a shock.
She was right ~ we did experience a jolt, but then looked past the passive, empty-eyed child laying on the floor and saw a precious human being in need of love and care. He was only three years old and had been through so much already. His young parents couldn’t cope with his multiple handicaps, and saw him as a curse from God. Na’il was born with a rare combination of two syndromes, part of them deformed facial features.
The first time we were able to take him home for a visit, the little deaf and dumb boy immediately felt at home. The three older special needs children that made up our family accepted him like one of them, and even the dogs were happy to put up with him.

Through the years, against insurmountable odds, Na’il grew into a mischievous, often smiling boy who amazed everyone by the way he tackled problems and found a way to ‘tell’ what he wanted.

Our other children were dark haired and their skin brown tinted, and people often remarked that Na’il was the only one who looked ‘like me’. He was partially albino, with white hair, a very fair skin but blue eyes and a radiant smile. To me it was a compliment, and proof of God’s grace, working in the life of this special child.

We saw his beauty, his sweet character and precious soul, but were often rudely reminded that his outward appearance could trigger a gasping response. People sometimes turned away in shock and disgust, while children screamed and ran away. When that happened, we were grateful Na’il was deaf and at least couldn’t hear those responses.
But we, the professionals who worked with him and the people who accepted him as he was, saw him like a lovely flower lending its sweetness to each day. Na’il touched the lives of those he met in a kind and gentle way, just by being himself.

We live in a world where people spend thousands of dollars on facelifts, diets, body enhancement and trying to look ‘perfect’. God however, has a different opinion. In Samuel 17 we read how the people of Israel expected King Saul’s replacement to be a ‘film star’ type of man. But the Lord had young David in mind, and Samuel told the people in verse 17:
“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

We’ve noticed that people who either worked with special needs people, or had them in their family, always approached our boy with an open heart. He immediately responded to them. Sometimes, brave, curious children asked what was wrong with him. He liked them too.
I felt sorry for the people whose fear for the unknown made them miss the blessing of getting to know a precious soul. All they had to do was look past the deformities, into Na’il’s heart. Then they would see a boy, rejected by the world, but made beautiful by God.

He will do it!

Bible reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:28 –
“The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it!”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King Jr.

When you plant a tiny shoot of Chinese Bamboo, you can’t expect to see any growth for the first 4(!) years of its life. Except for faithfully watering it, you won’t see any signs of growth. This may seem rather discouraging, but in the end it will pay off, for in the 5th year, the tree may even grow to a height of 80 feet! Only because of the tree’s deep root system, is it able to handle such a rapid growth.

Kristi Holl used the example of the Bamboo tree in her book Writer’s First Aid. It was such an encouragement for me! For the last two years I had been writing, writing, writing, and sending articles and stories out with only little success.

The Chinese Bamboo tree taught me to continue to faithfully water my gift of writing, and to remember I am putting down roots, in preparation for whatever tree the Lord God wants me to become.

As I’m entering my third year as a writer now, my prayer is that it will become a tree that provides shade, a place where people can relax and be revived from the heat of day; enjoyment and happiness, because of its beauty; but above all: gratefulness to the Creator of all things.

The only thing I can do at the moment is to have faith in God’s wisdom, knowing that He wants me to develop my writing roots. To accomplish that, I have to continue to work hard, keep writing, and leave the type of tree I will become up to Him!

“He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.” B.C. Forbes

© Petra van der Zande.

Introduction to a new blog

Already for some time now I had been thinking in the line of composing some devotions - I have enough material to write about. However, finding the time is something else. And even a good thing, like writing devotions, can become a burden if you expect too much of yourself.
Thus, instead of committing (i.e. forcing) myself to a daily or even weekly post, I decided to take it as it comes. With the result that I wrote three in the last week! Which of course I'm not going to post all in one go. No, they'll be dished up one by one. This way, you can let it sink in, ponder about it and I hope and pray, will be encouraged by what I've shared with you.
For that's what life is all about - that we may continue to learn and grow in the knowledge of Christ who saved us by dying on the cross for our sins, and in doing so, giving us eternal life!

SOLI DEO GLORIA ~ to God alone be the glory!