Yesterday I served as a volunteer at a free event for all people. I was not a lead pastor, I was not on the teaching staff, I was nothing really important, I was a gopher of sorts and I loved it. I love serving others. When you serve other people you tell them they matter to you and I think people need to hear that especially in today’s society.
I watch the team of youth kids I brought serve from trash duty to praying with their peers, kids they had never met. I watch them do this with excitement and joy. There was enthusiasm in the air. I believe investing in the next generation is of the utmost importance; teaching them to love somebody other than themselves.
This was not a “religious” event, I don’t serve at “religious” events. Religion has the propensity to be one sided and hard around the edges. This was a melting pot of sorts where people from all different backgrounds in faith came together to serve and facilitate a safe atmosphere of love and redemption. We were building people up, raising them high so they could receive the love that Jesus has for them.
John 3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. This is the cornerstone of Christianity. Maybe you don’t believe there is a God because of all the bad things in the world, maybe you’ve been burned by “Christians,” maybe you’ve been hurt by a “church,” maybe you feel God didn’t answer your prayer, I don’t know… I want to apologize to you… people are imperfect and God doesn’t answer all prayers, (that faith thing is hard, trusting He knows best). I don’t know much But I do know that God loves YOU despite your skepticism.
I do what I do in ministry because I want people to know there is no perfect person, let alone a perfect Christian. I want to bridge the gap between people and the Word of God and make it easier for them to understand and apply. I do not want to throw a bible at them in condemnation. Maybe that makes me a little strange as a Christian but I believe in lending a hand to help people up not keeping them down. I am desperate to extend God’s love to people because I am desperate for God’s love in my own life. I want people to know they are not alone in their desperation.
In the book of Jeremiah- I love Jeremiah, I love him because he was minding his own business and one-day God showed up and said Jeremiah I have other plans for you, my plans will be tough, my plans will be difficult but I know you can do it and I will help you. Jeremiah tried to get out of the work, he cried, through a fit, told God he wasn’t good enough, he wasn’t old enough but none of that matter to God, He knew Jeremiah was capable of the work (and it was really rough too). He placed within Jeremiah a strength to continue on regardless of the difficulties that he encountered (and there were many). God tells us in Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.
God’s love is faithful to you no matter what your emotions tell you or what people tell you, never lose sight of that. God places within each of us a strength to rise above what life has handed us and be different. Maybe you won’t win the lottery, maybe you won’t be the richest person but you have the strength and power within you to extend a helping hand, a smile at the grocery store, and soft whisper of encouragement to somebody. That is rising above your circumstances by not letting your life experiences make you harsh and bitter. I want that for you, I don’t know you but I want that for your life, it’s not utopia but its a better place to be.
It is my hope that you will push through the difficulties of your life and reach out to God at some point, knowing His plans for you are bigger than you can imagine. It is my prayer you will encounter God’s great love, compassion, and mercy this week and in return you will be those things for someone else. Pay it forward. Serve those that don’t deserve… step out of your comfort zone…
Good Afternoon Ladies…
PS. It took me a long time before I could serve at an event like yesterday (my anxiety was too great) but it doesn’t take much to invest love, compassion, and mercy into someone… just takes a little deliberate effort, I challenge you to pay it forward.