"Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame, and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven."
Wow. What a statement. "..that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame, and I choose it above all things..."
I've realized that although I have surrendered all of my life to Christ, there is still that part of me that wants my life to work out a certain way. And, of course, without serious pain or suffering. I mean - don't I deserve that?
Yep. There it is - arrogance and pride. I guess I never realized that I had those feelings...that I deserved anything other than what God chooses to allow in my life. It has been a startling revelation to me.
I'm dealing with a situation in my life that is not the easiest thing I've ever experienced. I'm sure it won't be the worst. It has been easy to see the wrong in the other person, but God is now showing me my own attitude that needs dealing with. "I deserve better than that." Although it may be true, that is for God to deal with in this situation. The truth is, I deserve much worse than I get, but it is only because of God's mercy that I don't.
One of the guys I work with had a statement taped to his computer monitor once. It said this, "For the sake of Christ, if I will put myself in last place, then I won't be hurt when others put me there."
So the question is, how much am I willing to risk? How much of my pride, feelings, and expectations am I willing to place on the line to be in the perfect will of God? Will I go places I wouldn't have normally chosen for myself and associate with people I wouldn't pick out of a crowd? Will I be willing to love those who persecute me? Will I be willing to totally sacrifice myself and my desires so that someone else can know the God of heaven and earth and have a relationship with Him?
Hard questions, to be sure. Right now, I'm working on answering them for myself.
1 comment:
I wonder the same thing at times. Mostly when faced with a big decision. So, as a result, big decisions are put off until there is just as much risk to go back as there is to go forward, then I commit to going forward.
It creates a lifetime of starts and stops, pauses until I feel comfortable or I am in a corner. I know that is not what God wants from me. I think that God wants us to realize that nothing in this world is a risk if God is in it and it is done with wisdom and love.
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