Thankfulness: How do we serve? Archives

Serving From the Overflow

11.19.2019 by Megan Abbott //

Welcome to FACETS, friend. We’re excited to welcome back a guest you may have met before. Megan will be sharing on our question this month, Out of thankfulness, how do we serve? We think you’ll love what she has to share about overflow, so please give her a warm welcome! Don’t forget that you can find Tracy’s most recent post here, and you can find Jennifer’s here. Thanks for stopping by!

When I (Megan) see something that needs to be done, or someone is asking for help, part of me immediately says, “Oh, I can do that.” No questions, just an immediate response to do what needs to be done. Need someone to help rearrange all the chairs? Okay. Someone needs a meal made while their family is having a hard time? I can cook! Even while writing this post, I got a text from a friend wanting help, and my response was, “Yeah, I’m writing, but I could after that.” Meanwhile, my to-do list is 20 items deep of things I have put off all week, and it is already after noon. This desire to help can be such a wonderful thing, but as you can imagine, time eventually runs out.

“When does my serving honor God?”

This is a question I have been wrestling with for a while. Honestly, most of my adult life. As I confessed above, I might jump to “always!” but part of me is learning maybe it isn’t really as true as I believe. Sure, God can be glorified through any act of service, but does His grace, mercy, and love shine through me brilliantly no matter the circumstances? Maybe? I have to think His reflection in me is a bit fuzzy at times.

The Recipe for Service

Let’s imagine you and I are coordinating a meal for that family above going through a difficult time. We decide on a tomato soup recipe that you absolutely love. They are going to have quite a bit of family in town visiting, so we realize it is probably best we each make a batch of soup then meet up to combine and deliver together.

You are attentive to the recipe. You take your time finely dicing the onion into equally sized pieces, checking the recipe before measuring the salt, pepper, and thyme, and combining them just as the recipe instructs. Your soup produces a beautiful fragrant aroma in your household. Meanwhile, I am at home making tomato soup from the same recipe. I read the recipe once and gather all the ingredients on the counter. I dice the onions and sauté them. I add a few spices. I notice a zucchini that has been on my counter long enough it really should get cooked, and think “Ooo, that would go great with this tomato soup!” So I chop it up and toss it in. I see a little rosemary and add a sprig. The smell is wonderful.

When you arrive to my house to combine the soups before we deliver, you notice they look nothing alike. They both smell great and look delicious, but that is about all they have in common. Yours looks like the recipe because you continued to check in and confirm you were on the right track. Mine looks delicious, but clearly shows my disdain for following recipes. I have this love for adding and substituting at random. Who needs measuring cups? Both are soup, but only one reflects the fullness of the original recipe.

Serving and the Goodness of the Lord

So back to my question “When does my serving honor God?”. I think, like the soups, serving can always reflect the goodness of the Lord, but when we don’t have the time, or emotional or mental capacity, to check in regularly through our prayer life, we become like the second soup. A beautiful, aromatic fragrance, but either not fully pointing to our Creator, or not fully showing His greatness. Either way, there is a feast. In one case the soup has a glimmer of what the Creator intended, maybe a few items missing, or a few extras thrown in for dramatic effect. In the other, there is a soup that more fully reflects the glory of the masterful Creator.

Reflecting the Goodness of the Lord

In Exodus 34 we find Moses meeting with God on Mount Sinai, where God asks him to chisel out the second pair of stone tablets containing God’s Ten Commandments. At the end of their meeting, Moses leaves with two tablets containing God’s Ten Commandments. Look at what Exodus 34:29 says about Moses after this meeting:

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” (NIV)

Moses was radiant. There was no denying where he had been, or who he had been with. God’s glory shone on his face. When he came down the mountain, those he encountered immediately knew Moses had been in the presence of the Lord. He shined His creator. Throughout Exodus 34, Moses repeatedly entered into God’s presence, and each time he came away with his face shining. I think the same happens when we regularly spend time with the Lord. The closer we are to God, the more we resemble Him. We overflow what we have taken in . When we take in time with the Lord, we overflow with His grace, love, truth, and mercy.

The Overflow

What would happen if I learned to follow God’s recipe for my life? Service, rest, prayer, laughter, hard work, fellowship—all the ingredients in balance. This may mean I need to make space for rest, space to say yes, and to acknowledge it is okay to say no. For me right now, it looks like regularly asking: “God, is this a place I can serve You from overflow, or am I at capacity?”

I want to believe God’s glory shines more brilliantly when I follow His recipe.

I have to imagine my thankfulness would overflow. I can’t be around God for any significant amount of time and not end up thankful. Thankfulness for His provision leads to generosity. Thankfulness for His grace produces patience. Thankfulness for His unconditional love transforms the way I love others. Thankfulness for His compassion produces an overflow of compassion for others.

Rather than immediately jumping at every opportunity, assuming God requires our participation in order for His plan to be successful, maybe we check in with the Creator and see where He may be guiding us to serve. If we stay rooted in the word and prayerful, the aroma of our service will fully glorify the Lord, and He will shine through us.

Thanks for reading along. We’d love for you to join the conversation below in the comments or at the Facebook page!

A Thankful Heart Serves: the Whys and 6 Ways to Serve

11.12.2019 by Jennifer Howe //

Welcome to Facets, friend. Cinnamon and spice is giving way to peppermint too soon. In a couple weeks many of us will gather with family and friends to count blessings and feast together. Our team adds to the thankful list when you visit and take time to connect here, on Facebook, or face-to-face. This month we remember a thankful heart serves. We’re honored when you engage in the conversation. Thank you!

This November we’re writing about thankfulness and the heart of service that flows from gratitude. You can find Tracy’s post here. And we are over-the-moon-excited to welcome our friend, Megan, this month.

“All you need is love…”¹

“You serve out of who you are,” he said. I (Jennifer, who recently changed my post color from pink to blue) realized my brain cells shifted focus to turn that idea over and over while the radio program faded and continued on in the background. I can’t serve out of who I’m not, I suppose. But serving out of who I am? Normally, this thinking would begin a spiral of introspection toward shame, but not this time. I chose to be compassionate toward me and become more curious than condemning, a new thing I hope to see blossom in my thought life.

I need a fresh reminder of what my God has to say about serving.

My first random act of kindness was in response to the Live Aid telecast in 1985. People in a country I knew nothing about were dying. I was only in high school, but I had to give. Years later I experienced a prompt to be generous for another cause, but it felt different—now I knew the guilt trip thing. Serving others doesn’t always feel the same, I thought. What’s the difference?

We have the opportunity to serve, but how will it look and feel? Is it the cause, the real person representing the need, or something else? I need more than Beatles lyrics to motivate me.

Shiny shoulds, wooden woulds, and tinny cans…

Sometimes I’m disappointed with my insensitivity. When I serve for all the wrong reasons I end up with sickening service or something worse. I easily make a list of reasons I should serve; they’re shiny and make me look good. When I struggle to serve, I have a list of woulds lined up, and I walk down that list teetering on a rickety picket fence. If I want to get over myself, I make a list of cans—but there’s a tinny echo to “I can do this.”

Honest reasons for every season…

How does a woman who loves God serve, and who does she serve?

Serve the LORD with reverential awe
and rejoice with trembling. Psalm 2:11 CSB

Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:2 CSB

It all starts in one place: relationship to the Lord. Why do anything of significance anyway? If it’s all about me, I have the power to make up my own mind and set my own agenda. Sometimes that may come across as kind or even genuine, but deep love comes from the deepest places.

But be sure to fear the LORD and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24 NLT

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Psalm 116:1 ESV

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ESV

When I pause to reflect on my God’s loving heart—mercy and grace at the cross—I should be affected. If I’m not, I wonder where my heart is focused. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose—to pay for sin, reconcile us to Holy God, and graciously gift us freedom in this life. If I’m cold toward Him or others, I haven’t thought about the rough-hewn crossbeam and nails. Awe and reverence, trembling joy, gladness, and love are found at the crucifixion, the empty tomb, and the torn curtain (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23). Humility and worship flow out of meditation like that!

Choosing…

Choosing between loving God in serving others and my ugly, self-serving ways is a real struggle. It’s a fight to choose selflessness over self-protection. Knowing the problem is half the battle. Choosing thankfulness and letting my service flow from that is the other half.

Why would I make that choice? Sometimes I choose because it’s the right thing, even if I’m waiting for my feelings to catch up. Sometimes the feelings amplify the calling I know is right.

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. Galatians 5:13 CSB

We have freedom of choice. No one forces anything, even God (I like to think the shoulds are outta here!). He knows freely-given love is the only real love there is. Commands in the Bible, not suggestions, are always for our good. The truth is, Plan A for our lives is that we love and glorify Him. If we begin to grasp what He has done for us, what other emotion can we have but thankfulness? Our choosing process changes at that point, doesn’t it?

We are free to choose, but two opportunities fight against serving others in love: self-serving and self-protection.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ²

Friend, I’m on the choosing road every day. I want this for me, you, and the world:

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10 NLT

Out of thankfulness, how will you serve someone today? Will it require specific talent or giftedness, or will you need to grow in thankfulness and engage your heart?

What to do? What to do?

Some ideas for serving in this season might be—

Volunteer with or support your local homeless shelter (PADS is one in this directory)
Carry an “essentials bag” to give away (Homeless Backpack Network)
Find a coat drive in your area to help people stay warm (One Warm Coat is one)
Organizations collect new toys for Christmas (Toys for Tots is one)
Support an organization caring for children (CAFO, Safe Families, or others)
Serve your church’s mission through ministry

These aren’t the only opportunities. I would love for our readers to start a list below or at our Facebook Page. Let’s help each other be creative in our service in this season and every season. We need ideas for spring, summer, fall, and winter, friends!

¹ “All You Need is Love.” Lennon-McCartney. 1967.
² “The Road Not Taken.” Robert Frost. 1916.

Out of Thankfulness, How Do You Serve?

11.05.2019 by Tracy Stella //

Dear friends, welcome to FACETS of Faith! We pray you are blessed with a word from God each time you visit. We pray you hear His heart for you as you read. We also pray for prompt obedience if He places something on your heart. We have much to be thankful for even when we don’t always see it. I pray we see what God has done and is doing in our lives and that we take action on His instruction each time He asks. Let the lives we lead be a fragrant aroma to Him that smells sweeter and more savory than any Thanksgiving meal we will ever partake in. In Jesus’ name, amen!

Imagine travelling for months to an unknown, but hopeful destination. You made the bold decision to pick up your roots and reestablish yourself elsewhere. Now that the world wasn’t flat, you were flat out ready for an adventure. The decision felt right, so you moved forward. However, you didn’t fully calculate the cost.

Oh, you knew how much the trip across the ocean cost financially. You just hadn’t counted on weather and disease wreaking havoc the way it did along the way. You didn’t anticipate the stormy weather driving rain and cold to the center of your core. Once cold there aren’t enough socks and blankets to soak the chill from the marrow of your bones.

Right about now is when you start to doubt your decision-making ability. What was I thinking? Was I crazy to embark on this adventure? What might I lose because I followed my heart into this thing? I thought I heard from God. Was I wrong?

This is very likely what many of the settlers felt who crossed an ocean to see what God had in store for them. Many of them came for religious freedom. Some came for adventure. Others came for a fresh, new start.

Sacrifice may have been a bigger piece of the equation than any of them planned for. How could they really understand the magnitude of what this journey would cost? They’d never done it before. They were risk takers. They were courageous. But they couldn’t see into the future, even as they tried to plan for it. Even if they weren’t naïve, it would have been impossible for them to anticipate every obstacle ahead.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’─Luke 14:28-30 NIV

Have you ever been there? Where you forgot to count the cost? Or you thought you had, but you needed to count a little longer and a lot higher? I’m with you, sister. I’ve done it too! Even when I thought I weighed my decisions, prayed on them, sought after God’s heart, will, and ways I underestimated what would be needed. Somehow things cost a lot more heart, time, energy, and stamina than we expected.

Truth be told, I think sometimes God doesn’t let us see all it will cost. Heck, none of us would get up off the couch and do anything good for God if He told us, So and so is going to be extremely rude when you are trying to help them. Or This one will slander you, but be nice to them anyhow. Or perhaps you’ll be called to walk alongside a prickly, unloving person. Maybe God will literally ask you to give a financial gift stretching you outside your comfort zone.

You get the point. If God’s intention is to grow us (hint: it is!), He might keep a bit of the struggle out of our sight while we’re stepping into His plan for our lives.

I have absolutely been here. I know I heard from God. He told me it was going to be hard (He just didn’t say HOW HARD!)

So why on earth would we step into something we KNOW is going to be a challenge? We’ve calculated the cost, and we’ve even budgeted for things to cost more than we think, because that would be the wise order of things.

Why? What’s the motivation?

Those settlers who embarked upon their life’s most difficult adventure didn’t know their situation was going to get just a bit more challenging once they anchored close to shore.

They were in unfamiliar territory. And the weather was just about to change. Winter. None of us likes winter. At all. Oh, I’m not talking about the weather now. I’m talking about those seasons where we wonder, where are You God?

The people nearly starved to death. Some did.

Life can be extremely harsh at times. Winter seasons are difficult to weather well. Spiritually, we need to prepare ourselves for that. In our vibrant, blooming seasons it’s important we store those experiences in our hearts and minds as encouragement for the future.

Even when life is hard, never forget God’s got victory just around the corner. Some choose defeat, not knowing God has deliverance around the next bend. Let’s take heart and tune into what God tells us in His Word so we weather the storm well.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”─John 16:33 NIV (emphasis mine)

There will be trouble this side of heaven.

But the optimist in me says, sometimes it will also be extravagantly beautiful. Full of hope. Vitality. Life to the full! The Scripture above reminds us God has overcome the world. We know that, but in times of trouble, it’s powerful to speak this Scripture out loud with the full authority you’ve been given as a daughter of Christ.

Write it on the tablet of your heart. Literally, write it down on an index card and carry it with you. Remind yourself that you are made for VICTORY!

Jesus overcame the world (John 13:33b). In His name, you can too!

Again, Jesus tells us a thing or two about what this life is to look like.

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”─John 10:10b NIV (emphasis mine)

TO THE FULL. He died so we could live the fullest life possible. I’m not talking about travelling around the world and doing whatever we want, when we want. There’s nothing the matter with travelling. There’s nothing the matter with taking time for ourselves to refresh our spirit. (Even Jesus did that, and He commands us to rest as well.)

What I am saying is He also calls us to serve sacrificially. He led by example. God still leads by example.

We love Him because He first loved us.─1 John 4:19 NKJV

We don’t love Him because we are so awesome. We love Him because He showed us how. (But you are awesome, by the way. You’re fearfully and wonderfully made. But you get my point. We wouldn’t even know what love IS if He hadn’t given us experiences of His love in the first place.)

Remember those early settlers of the States? How did God love them? They’d sacrificed much and experienced great loss.

God sent them practical help from the people who already lived there. The Indians knew how to survive on this land that we call home. They shared ideas and taught the pilgrims how to make it through harsh conditions. And when all was said and done, they celebrated the harvest. Together. (Sadly, we know this camaraderie and unity didn’t last, but that’s for a different piece.)

For now, let’s talk about the harvest. It’s one of my favorite biblical principles, because we all want to know we make a difference somehow. If I’m investing time, money, gifts and attention to something, I definitely hope and pray there will be a harvest. I know we don’t always get to see the harvest, but sometimes we do. That is such an encouragement. Our sacrifice was not in vain. God wrung every ounce of good out of it to bring life to the full for those He asked us to help. And maybe we are a gift He is giving to someone else because someone invested in us first.

I think about my friend who invited me to church and kept inviting me. Because she included me in her life and invited me into her world, I now know the love of Jesus. And because I know the love of Jesus, I can now love others. I get to. But that wouldn’t have happened (at least when it did) if my friend hadn’t invited me to walk through the doors of the church reassuring me the building wouldn’t collapse around me because, man, was I a s-i-n-n-e-r! I didn’t know back then that we are all s-i-n-n-e-r-s in need of God’s grace. Every one of us!

What does all this have to do with serving God out of thankfulness? Let’s hear from Jesus again as He talks to Simon…and to us.

“Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”─Luke 7:40-47 MSG

What if we were women so grateful to God for all He has given us that we served others like she served Jesus? What if we’re really serving Jesus when we do?

She was emotionally invested and used whatever she had to sacrificially serve the Lord. She celebrated Him! She was glad He was in her life and her actions showed it!

What would our world look life if we stopped trying to impress others and instead impressed God?

What would happen in your heart if you overheard the Lord talking about you in this fashion?

Look at her. Look at what she’s doing for the kingdom. Look at what she’s doing for Me, because she knows what love looks like. She is a student of Love. Look at how well she receives my love and serves out of the overflow. She hasn’t forgotten what I did for her. She remembers what life was like before she surrendered to Me. Impressive isn’t it? Many will forget and move on with life. However, she took to heart all I taught her. I’ll keep interceding on her behalf so she can continue. Even when it’s hard.

God made you for impressive things, beautiful one. Are you doing them? Not in some striving, slaving fashion. Rather, out of the overflow of His love and grace, glistening from the glow of His anointing.

Shine!

Out of thankfulness we serve. We serve with our whole heart. We serve because we were shown how. We serve because that’s why we’re here. Otherwise, God would have taken us to heaven already. For now, He needs us. He needs us to remember all He has done for us. He needs us to respond, to roll up our sleeves and say, “Yes, Lord. Send me.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”─Isaiah 6:8 NIV

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