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All of us experience times when we struggle and have doubts…when we feel weak and insecure.   Not every day is a day of amazing strength, a day focused on God, or a day filled with gratitude.  Sometimes we just feel really challenged to solve the problems we face or feel ill-equipped to continue with something we thought we felt called to do.  We are tired, we are weary, and we are simply worn out.  In these valleys, we need to be able to shift our focus beyond our immediate obstacles and look toward Christ.   When things are going great, we can forget just how much we need Him.  These troubling times can be an opportunity to stretch our faith and begin to experience the truth that through Christ, all things are possible.

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We often look for strength from God to help guide us through life’s problems. Isaiah 40:31 tells us that to gain strength we must “wait on the Lord”.  Just how do we gain the patience to wait? We find strength in God through worship. We thank Him.  We honor Him.  We spend time with Him in prayer and thanksgiving. We spend time studying His Word to better understand His character. We humble ourselves and recognize our need for Him.  Through worship we gain the strength we need to “fly high on wings like eagles” for we recognize that by ourselves we are weak, but with God, all things are possible.

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As Christians we are called to be outwardly focused – on God and on our neighbors.  Robert Schnase, in his writings on developing successful, outward-focused church congregations, calls us to put into effect five fruitful practices:  Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-taking mission and service, and Extravagant Generosity.  The adjectives are important!   Think about how enthusiastically putting these practices in place within our own lives and among a community of believers, could make a difference in our life …  and in our world.

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I found this writing from Charles Stanley very relevant to this week’s study on service:

“Another truth Paul learned is that having experienced the Lord’s support in our suffering, we are then able to “comfort those who are in any affliction”.  Although He employs various means to deliver encouragement, people are a favorite instrument.  After walking through challenges, we are qualified to share God’s love by cheering on the discouraged, lifting up the burdened, and reaching out to the hurting.”

How can we use the challenges we have faced in our life to help cheer on, lift up and reach out to others in need?

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Why are we called to share our time, talents and treasures?  We give because God has given so much to us.  We give to demonstrate our gratitude to our Jesus, who regularly demonstrated how to give freely, cheerfully, and generously. We give to demonstrate our gratitude to God, who freely showers His grace upon us.  Who can benefit from the gift of our time, talent or treasure – all given to us by a graceful God.

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Sometimes when we think about serving we decide not to because we are in a season of our life where we simply do not have time to volunteer or take on a project that would complicate our already busy lives.  But service doesn’t always need to be a big project or program.  Service can be reflected in the very way we live our lives.   Sometimes it is the small things we do that can have a big impact on others.  Saying good morning to your co-worker to brighten the day, kissing your spouse and letting to let them know they are loved, surprising a stranger by paying for their  groceries ,  holding the elevator for someone in a hurry, complementing someone to notice a job well done, hugging a friend to lend support.   Let’s be intentional.  Let’s allow the small things we do throughout our day make a big difference to others.  Our small actions, performed with love and concern for others, serve God’s kingdom well because they bring joy – both to ourselves and to others.

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God has blessed each of us with unique abilities and gifts — talents.  When combined with our life experiences and personality, our talents makes us each designed in a way to specially serve in God’s kingdom.   We might be excellent cooks who share meals with the needy, crafters who bring the joy of homemade gifts, hosts who organize events to build community, vocalists who enrich worship, readers who share their love of literacy, artists who capture the beauty of God’s kingdom, teachers who enrich lives, …there are so many gifts and so many ways to share.

Our talents were given to us in order to share them – and we in turn benefit from the talents and gifts God provides others. God calls us to serve and He equips us to serve – He provides us the gifts and talents we can use to benefit others.  When we are using our God-given talents,  we enjoy sharing them and our service is pleasant and it turns into a joy!

How well are you managing your talents?  What are the talents God has given you and how can you use them to serve others?  Let’s commit to using our talents wisely and for the service of others!

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This week we celebrate the goodness of God through sharing.  We worship a God of abundance … God who gives His grace bountifully.  Jesus gave His life on the cross for us so we can have eternal life.  God gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us.  God gives us spiritual gifts so we can serve.  God gives us love.

We can give in many ways – through gifts of our time, talents and treasure.  We can give to help the poor, to free the oppressed,  to assist our family, to sustain  fellow believers, to support the church, to give back to our community.   In all cases, we are called to give gladly and from our heart –give as an act that gives glory to God.   Sharing and giving that is done as an act of worship and is based on the love of God is giving that results in joy for us and those we serve.

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When we talk about resting from a Christian perspective, we are not just talking about taking time to relax and pamper ourselves .   Mark 2:27 reminds us that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” – the Sabbath is a gift to us from God.   The fourth commandment instructs us to remember the Sabbath day.  We are called to provide time to rest and praise God not because God needs our praise, but because we benefit from  a  God-centered mindset as we prepare our hearts for the week ahead.  When observe the gift of the Sabbath we refocus and can go about our daily work with a God-centered spirit.  The Sabbath is the Lord’s day – a day of joy and celebration.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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