“If you are part of God’s family,
your mission is mandatory. To ignore it would be disobedience.” (p283
note) Mom added an exclamation mark (!) to that last sentence. [She had plenty of reasons that might tempt
her to say “I am done.”] Was she
struggling with fulfilling the mission God had assigned? When you think of
“super-saints”, you really don’t imagine that they struggle with
obedience. The “demons” that assail them
may seem trivial to most of us. Perhaps
like a gnat buzzing around your head as compared to say, a swarm of killer bees
attacking you. But, people in hot
pursuit of God – wanting to be fully yielded to His will, are not willing to
accommodate even a gnat. Not if it hinders their relationship with and
obedience to the Father.
Having said that, what I am about to say should not be construed to mean
that I think I am more than I am. I am reminded of Romans 12:3. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,
but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith
God has distributed to each of you.” In
my estimation, I am not in the same league – spiritually – as mom and Don were.
They were in the “Bigs” and I am struggling in the minor league. Having said that, today, after working on
restoring the Smith house in 100 degree weather, Martie asked me if I was
tired.
I answered, “Yes, I’m tired, but, then, I am always tired.” What we do is
very difficult, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Her eyes welled up in
tears. She said, “I don’t want you to be
tired.” When you serve God – you may find yourself in a difficult place –
physically, emotionally, spiritually, even financially. Maybe all four. But that is not a reason to quit. (Galatians
6:9) “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall
reap, if we faint not.” Just because I
don’t complain or even comment does not mean that what I do does not take its
toll on me. The measure of being right with God’s purpose is not the ease of the
mission, but the peace in your heart.
I imagine that mom wondered if she should continue to serve. That thought buzzing around in her head like
a little gnat. Her desire was to go to
heaven – but the Lord had a purpose for her and she was determined to be
obedient to her calling. And to that
thought she said (!). [and so do I by the way!]
Note:
Taken from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren Copyright © 2002 by Rick
Warren. Use by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com
No comments:
Post a Comment