HELPING HANDS:  LEARNING TO BE A SERVANT

DREAM: I was leading a blind man with a white cane through a college campus. We were walking through a maze of obstacles and it was my place to help him maneuver through them. At one point I tried closing my own eyes to see what it was like for him.

EXPERIENCE 4/5/06: Tonight I spent 3 solids hours on the phone in tech support helping a man work through a problem he was having. Tech support is like helping a blind person “see” their answer and yet being blind yourself since you can not see their screen. It is a parallel of being blind as you are trying to see the problem through their blinded eyes. If they do not communicate properly, it becomes a real problem of maneuvering.

So the day before the tech support appointment, I gave him one simple instruction that he was to do in preparation for the phone call. The first thing I asked him when we spoke was if he had completed that task. He said he forgot so I waited until he said it was completed and then we began. No matter what angle I tried with him, we came up with the same problem. I was getting really weary and he was feeling guilty for taking my time and suggested he could take it from there. But I was not willing to let his problem go until I saw him through to victory.

After many ideas in trouble shooting, I started to think about my original instruction and so we started testing to prove to me that he had really done that instruction. Every test showed that he had not, and yet he was positive he had. In the end his blind eyes were opened as he realized that my original diagnosis was correct, he needed to have completed the simple instruction I had given him the day before and he assumed he had done it, but he had not. His assumption was his blind spot.

[LESSON: God sometimes has to walk us through a patterned cycle of problems, until we are finally able to “see” our areas of presumption and assumption that hold us in blindness.]

When I got off the phone with him, I was so deeply weary and asking the Lord about my reward. I would not get any monetary payment for my time with him, as I had done this as a favor for the company I was working with. What was worse is that after we solved the problem, this man was very grateful and told me who he was. He was a very important man whose expertise was in a field of my own need. He offered a favor back to me and as soon as he shared what, I knew instead of a blessing, it was actually a temptation that I was being offered. As much as I wanted to accept, I knew it was not the will of God for me. So I told him a gracious thank you, and then said no.

I knew what had happened was a scriptural fulfillment that our gifts will bring us before great men. (Prov 18:16) But I went to bed and felt ripped off. I began thinking about my heavenly reward for places of service that I had done that seemingly were not getting a pay back for my time. In hindsight I went through a quick mental list of where I had planted my time and asked myself, if I had to do it all over again, would I make the same choice? In each and every issue, my answer was a resounding YES.

WHAT IS HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH?

After going through the mental list, silent tears were coming as I suddenly realized that I'd had a heart change I never knew I had been given. I was thinking about Jesus on His knees washing dirty feet, when He took upon Himself no reputation. Instead of claiming His kingship and kingdom, He laid his life down as a servant. He deserved to be served, but instead He served. He was the perfect model of what it means to have a ministry.

The Holy Spirit brought into memory the fact that we are made lower than the angels, and yet they are our servants, serving us. And it gives them great honor to do so. I thought about all the scriptures where it says we are to esteem eachother higher than ourselves. I remembered where Jesus said the greatest in His kingdom are the servants of all. I remembered that there is not greater love than to lay our lives down for one another. (Psa 8:4-5; Heb 1:14; Phil 2:3; Mark 9:35; John 15:13)

The heart of a servant is to give one's time, word, touch, gifts and helping hand in order to lift up another person.

When I think of a servant, I always think of the old time movies where they had servants in rich people's homes. They spoke only when spoken to, their demeanor was of humble origin, giving respect and honor to the person they served, as though in a greater position then their own. A good example in today's life would be chefs and waitresses, store clerks, house cleaners, gas attendants, and customer support! - Spending long hours ministering to weary people who offer little thanks for the help. (hmmmm, does that sound like parenthood?)

VOLUNTEERS

Working tech support is pretty much a thankless job. For the most part, people are crabby by the time they arrive for help. One particular week in tech support was a really tough one. I went to bed early and watched one of my son's favorite shows to de-stress. There was a scene of an umpire behind the plate of a baseball game. He called a shot and all the parents stood up and shook their fists and they were yelling at him, and the kids were upset. As this guy's face turned red, I too felt all this frustration build up inside of me. He looked at them all yelling and took his hat off and threw it on the ground. He said, “That's it, for $20 a game, I dont have to put up with this!!!!!”

I laughed and laughed and laughed. It was so funny to me and all that stress washed away from my soul. I had all my humor back and I knew I could go back into tech support and throw another star fish into the ocean !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE STAR FISH STORY

The star fish story is something that I have thought of over and over again when doing tech support. It has gotten me through the toughest of times.

It was a story about how overwhelmed we can feel with so much need. A man was walking the beach thinking about that, when he saw a native reach down and pick up a stranded star fish and throw it back into the water. Then he did it again and again. There were thousands of star fish that were stranded in the low tide. As the man came up to the native, he asked, "How can you possibly think that you are making a difference? Look at these miles of star fish!" The native bent down, picked up another and said "Made a difference to that one!"

(end story)

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MY HUSBAND AND THE DISHWASHER

My husband has been faithfully unloading the dishwasher for me for many years. One day when he prayed about how to love me more, the Lord gave him that idea. Back then, at first, it was an intrusion to my kingdom, my kitchen domain. Pride, ownership, and independence.... out the door! Not to mention differing opinions on how things should be done in the kitchen: striving and debate out the door! What is a good wife and how is she supposed to perform? Kitchen identity out the door! As the years progressed I saw the sacrifice that he put into this simple task and this brought me more heart changes. Having seen his daily sacrifice and my daily thanking him for such has really humbled me to see him place himself as my servant.

And now with the stripping in my own life, for the past few years my husband shops with me and we bag our groceries together, along with carrying them into the house and re-stocking. It is now something I could not do on my own, nor he do himself. But together we do it as a team.

Hindsight says a lot about the gift of servanthood God gave my husband to give to me. Now when I look at my husband, I see that his heart is to serve and everything he does for me enables me to serve others. Not only that, but I see that through the loving service and role modeling of my husband, he has been 30 years of consistent influence in my life to prepare me as Jesus' bride and help mold me with genuine heart changes. Husbands, if you want to win your wives, SERVE THEM. Wives, if you want to win your husbands, thank and appreciate them.

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REVELATION - BLINDERS REMOVED

4/20/06: Today I read a scripture I had never internalized before.

Luke 12:37-38 NLT

There will be special favor for those who are ready and waiting for His return. I tell you, He Himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!

That's our Jesus! My blind eyes were opened and I saw the light. Yes Jesus was the perfect role model of what it meant to be a servant. But when He comes back, He will still be serving us!!!!!! Being a servant is WHO GOD IS. It is our Papa's heart to serve us. WOW what a revelation. I have found a deeper place into His heart.

WORD TO PONDER 4/23/06 HELPING HANDS

Yes, many hands make light the load, dear ones. This is the hour where I AM calling volunteers from all giftings to find the needs and plug in. Release what you have to share, and hearts will change as you do so. Serve with a pure heart and My power for change will be released on earth through the hands of you, who are My humble servants.

Ps 110:3 NKJV

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power.

Phil 2:4 NKJV

...fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.