The chapter for this week is called Unwanted Strength.  Are you stuck hosting everything just because you are able to pull together a fabulous meal and tablescape (I think of HGTV’s Sandra Lee here) in less than 30 minutes?  Are you dragged into leadership at church because people naturally look to you for direction, when you’d really prefer to just sit in the back row of the meeting?   Are you really good at something you don’t enjoy?  Then this one is for you!

As for me, I can be very organized and a great mutli-tasker when I put my mind to it.  When I am in that mode, look out!  And I used to love flying through my to do lists and checking off one task after another.  The problem is, I have always struggled to maintain moderation, tending more to “all or nothing” thinking.  So if I get too task-oriented, my people skills evaporate.  Likewise, it seems that if I focus my attention on people, I cannot get a thing done.  We all remember the lesson of Mary and Martha from Luke, chapter 10…people trump tasks.  Getting too wrapped up in our work can make us say or do very ugly things.  Worrying about waiting on the tables took Martha’s mind off of waiting on the Lord.  Her bad feelings of anger and resentment bubbled over and were a good barometer of her spiritual wellness at that point.  If only she had remembered the promise that they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).  Of course, I know too that a lot of women, like me, have read that story and sometimes thought, Well, the food wasn’t going to make itself!  But then again, it was Jesus, so…

Jesus taught, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21).  So what we value is what we will put our hearts into.  Some days we must choose happy family or clean house?  People trump tasks.  On the other hand, the Bible has many scriptures that do encourage hard work.  From the very beginning, we were meant to be diligent: The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Gen. 2:15).  Proverbs often calls us to work: Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense (Prov 12:11). And, From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward (Prov 12:14).  Certainly God would have us work hard when we have a job to do.  He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame (Prov 10:5).  But always God would have us remember that whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col 3:23-24).  So the Word of God encourages hard work but not a hard heart.  He would have us follow His lead.  Serving God’s agenda balances the task/people problem for me.  With God’s help, we are able to serve people while we complete our tasks.  This is real multi-tasking!  Then it is just a matter of following His lead…oh wait, that’s another post altogether!!!

My “strength” of getting things organized and done – I used to really pride myself in it (that’s part of the problem too!).  Once I realized that God wanted me to have a servant’s heart, I saw that I needed to build my serving muscles up.  When He had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet (John 13:12-14).  And so I determined to become more focused on people than work; I knew God was calling me to it.  This was a process for sure.  But sometime after this first “call”, God called me to become a homeschooling mom, which stretches me so much in this area.  We have so many things to get done!  But my real job is the people, or in this case the peeps, I serve.  How I have struggled to learn to do both!  My strength had become somewhat unwanted…just like your dominant eye will draw your focus in its direction, so my desire to accomplish the tasks ahead of me can draw my focus away from what I need to do most – love well.  But as always, God has the best answer: As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1 Peter 4:10).

Do you have an “unwanted strength”?  Can you see how God wants to to use it in His service?  Please share!

JustAgirl…just like you!