The longer I live on this Earth the more I long for Heaven, that is just a fact, but we can't get there until it's time to go, so we do need to somehow focus on what we can do while we're stuck on this rock! For years, mostly throughout my childhood, I remember various good-hearted relatives telling me to play fair, do the right thing, and they always admonished me to help others; don't be selfish. It was beaten into my soul that to be selfish was one of the worse things a person could do; it was sin, and it was a nasty sin at that. I was told to think about others before thinking about myself. I was told to do unto others as I would have someone do unto me. I was preached to, taught, and directed to have a spirit of giving not receiving. Doesn't the Bible even say it's better to give than to receive?
Over and over again, we are held accountable for what it is that we think about others, do for others, etc, etc, and the lists go on and on, all the while in our hearts and minds we can't stop thinking about what our own dreams are and how we're going to make it all happen. We like people, sure we do, but is it really fair to ask someone to put aside their hopes and wishes in order to help someone else make all of their dreams come true? I mean, c'mon, let's be real for a second - - can we really do that? Answer? Of course, we can! In fact, the Word also tells us that if we do it right, and yes, you do have to do it right, that God Himself will be the one to bring us the blessings we hope for; they're called the "desires of your heart" in the Bible, in Proverbs 37, verse 4. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and HE will give you the desires of your heart". Sounds like a sure-fire thing to me! If God said it, that settles it - - at least for me it does.
It's been a minute, but I adopted an attitude of gratitude a while back. I purposely focused on not worrying about life and all that it throws at me because there's that one promise I can put my finger on every single time, and if I ever (and I do mean EVER) feel that things aren't necessarily going my way I can always bet with confidence that it's because I haven't done enough for others to make that actually happen for myself. Sounds like a paradox, I know, but hear me out -- be VERY selfish with this one. If you want your desires (and we all do) all we really have to do is to delight in God. What? Say that again, and this time, say it in a way I can understand it?
OK, let me be blunt -- I'm good at being blunt. Do what you know you're supposed to do, do the right thing, do the best you can to make sure what it is that you're doing is what God wants you to do, and don't worry about having the money to do it - - just do what you can, He'll bring the opportunity for you to prove yourself, and when you are truly delighting in Him, doing what He wants you to do, then BAM....desires fall out of the heavens, literally. He brings them to you, every single time, you can put it to the test, you can bank on it, you can say to yourself "Wow, that worked" because you know what? He can't lie. You have the word of God that if you just delight - - show your gratitude and do what He wants you to do, you will have your personal desires -- you may not win the lottery, but I'm pretty sure that won't even rank in the top 100 desires in your heart because something happens to your heart when you start delighting in God - - it's a cycle, but not a vicious one, it's a VICTORIOUS one.
Be as selfish as you can be. Work really really hard at helping others in order to get your personal desires. Paradoxical, ironic, strangely weird, but ever so true. Whenever I give someone money I never loan it to them. If they ever paid me back I wouldn't get my blessing! It would be a loan, I can't expect to delight in God if I'm just going to wait on someone to pay me back - - nope, delighting in God means to let that money go where it needs to go when it needs to go, and He'll take care of me because I didn't stop to ask questions and put my own two cents into it. I mean, you don't have to be stupid about it either, know who you're giving your precious time and help to; a fool is not going to appreciate your assistance and you'll learn a hard lesson helping fools. Be wise, but be at service.
If you're new to the action, and you really haven't been much of a servant, start out slow and build up your personal confidence in yourself. Do small things, random acts of kindness; watch the results. Step up and volunteer, do something you may have otherwise never imagined would be fun and fulfilling, and you'll also find that your servant's soul will begin to produce more "fruit" than you ever knew you had in you to begin with. Do more, do it again, look for opportunities, and make them if you can't find one. Help out a local children's hospital, a nursing home, a church, a rotary club, something where you can serve but not be seen or "thanked" necessarily because you don't need to be thanked do you? No, you don't, you're there to serve, not be recognized. God will do all the recognizing you can ever hope for; believe me. It's not a game to Him, it's a promise!
One last thing -- don't go around telling everyone what it is that you're doing for others. Just do it. Don't blog, post, brag, boast, talk about or even hint about what it is that you're doing to serve - - just serve. If God wants you to pray for someone do that. If God wants you to help in the food pantry, do that. If God wants you - - let Him direct you. Just be there, open up that heart, open up your arms, and your mind -- walk dogs for the shelter; they need your love. Think about what it is that you can do and then ask yourself if you can see yourself making the changes you want to see in the world. You really are more than you know you are or think you are. You are capable of making someone else's burden a little easier - - and wouldn't it be GREAT to have your own desires fulfilled just because you were promised they would be? Yeah, He's cool like that - - always has been. Always will be.
Ask yourself "How can I serve today?"
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