Mahatma Gandhi
"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."
Jesus
"As we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts as well. It is not a question of who is healed first. When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy, more healing is made available for others. And when we serve others with an open and generous heart, great healing comes to us."
Wayne Muller
So many of us are looking for healing from our wounds. Desperately. We look for signs of God's love. Is He there? Does He know me? Does He care? And many times the answers come, and often it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of tears to get those answers. But He always answers "yes" to each of those questions...He is there. He does love us...each of us, as individuals and as His very special children. He does in fact care. Then why is it so difficult sometimes to find those answers? Why do I continue to struggle in the asking and the pleading?
What if we're just praying for the wrong things? What if it's not always about me, and what I want and what I need? What if I began to ask for something different? Something that would flip the script and take the focus off of me and my suffering and my pain. What if I chose...and yes, this is a choice...to live more of an outward life? What if we prayed to find someone to serve? To love? How could we be Jesus for them? Would that really help to heal me? My experience has taught me the less I focus on what I need, and begin to focus on what those around me need and how God can use me to bless their life, the stronger I am and the less significant my problems seem. Then I begin to live an outward life...
Well, what does an outward life look like? It's living with the mindset that the people we live with and encounter every day are just as important as we are, and maybe even more so. It's seeing people as people, not things to be used. It's certainly choosing to not be a victim to other people...to our spouse, our parents, our boss, our teachers, or anyone else. It's acknowledging their wounds seeing others in their brokenness and still choosing to love them for who they are and where they are.
C. Warner Terry wrote this..."Developing an outward mindset is a matter of learning to see beyond ourselves...Personal growth is not like the development of a skill. It does not take place in observable increments that can be measured and charted. Indeed, as we have seen, when we're growing in SENSITIVITY, GENEROSITY, and COMPASSION, we're not aware of it, because we're not focusing on ourselves." So when we are living an outward life, our personal growth, our healing, our strengthening happen naturally because we quit trying so hard! The questions above get answered without our even knowing it...the answers just kind of sneak up on us, and over time we realize that we are stronger than we thought and certainly experiencing more joy than we ever thought possible.
One of my favorite songs (I know...I have a lot of favorites!) is "Love God, Love People" by Danny Gokey...some of the lyrics:
"I've been running in circles, jumping the hurdles
Getting caught in the rush of doing so much
I'm feeling kinda worn out, all this checking the boxes
Tryna be flawless has me spinning my head, catching my breath, too afraid to slow down
I tell myself to keep this up, that God wants more than just my love
But I've been complicating things. It's just like me to overthink.
Gotta keep it real simple, keep it real simple
Bring everything right back to ground zero
'Cause it all comes down to this
Love God and love people!
We're living in a world that keeps breakin'
But if we wanna find a way to change it
It all comes down to this
Love God and love people
Oh, this is freedom, the keys to the Kingdom
Knowing life will be found when love can be loud
"Cause love is what it's all about..."
"Knowing life will be found when love can be loud"...that says it all, right? And this from Albert Schweitzer..."I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." Real healing, and real joy, only come through service.
Isn't this exactly what Jesus taught and lived? As I've watched "The Chosen" it has been obvious that Jesus is smiling the most and is happiest when He is healing someone else. That is where His joy is! Would it be any different for us? It was never all about Him...it was always all about others. And ultimately, all about us. He "went about doing good." He washed the feet of His Apostles. Whose feet can we figuratively wash today? Why not just ask in our prayers each morning? I've found that prayer is always answered! Always...
"If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. but if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me." Matthew 11:39 (the Message) As much as I may be searching, questioning, suffering, battling demons real or imagined, making up stories in my head about all the injustices of life, and while asking God where He is in my mess, I know the answers can always be found in love and service to other people. The opportunities are countless....just choose to be aware of them. And then act on them. Bob Goff reminds us that Jesus doesn't want to be our study project, He just wants us to go out and love someone today. If we are looking for Grace maybe we just need to give some Grace. That's the economy of God, and it doesn't make sense to the world. It's in no way logical, but it's real and it works.
As we lose ourselves this way, we will certainly find ourselves...our true selves, not the false self we have been pretending to be. Not the poser. Not the fake. Not the Phony. And we will discover both strength to do battle and joy in service... That's the answer.
Thanks for this Chris! Rings true. Most of the time when I talk to God about other people, he says thanks with a feeling of love and gratitude.
ReplyDelete