Did You Ask?

Have you ever volunteered for something at Church because you saw a need and knew somone had to do it.....and then, you hated it!? What! Jesus said His burden was easy and His yoke was light. Why is volunteering at church so much work, and why is it so hard to get anyone involved. I think they go hand in hand.

So many of us have experienced this senario. It scares us off, why would we want to be involved with anything else in church if its going to be so painful? A few years back our Church moved into our own building and we needed childcare workers. I love kids, so I volunteered for the nursery coordinator. I hated it. I loved those babies, but my heart wasn't in the work. I became resentful because it was so much work.

Recently I came accross a verse I know well.

Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

But this time, I saw another level to the verse. Unless the Lord builds the house, you labor in vain. Unless the Lord does the work, unless God has told you to do it, its all for nothing. It was an ah-ha moment. No wonder I didn't like being the nursery coordinator. Besides the fact I was in there every week, I had never even considered asking God if it was a job I should do. I just thought we were supposed to do whatever needed to be done. And that is true to some point, but we are only to do what God asks us to do. Imagine if we were all obedient, just think how smoothly Sunday morning would run.

The other day, My friend brought some light to the Mary and Martha story. It wasn't that Jesus didn't want Martha to clean, and cook, but He wanted her to do what He asked. Mary would have been more then happy to make Jesus a meal had he asked. But what He wanted, at that moment, was for them to come and spend time with Him. God had showed me over the summer that my desire for a clean home wasn't a problem until it interuped my time spent with Him. And for years it did. I had the Martha spirit of busyness. Until I realized this, I could never just sit and enjoy Him, I wasn't able to sit and let Him love on me. It took practice, God had to teach me how to be still in His presence. And now that I have learned to let Him love me, learned to sit at His feet; I have found a real place of rest. No matter what my house looks like.

I still clean, but when He asks, I sit at His feet, and I try to do it before He has to come calling. Before I jump in and serve in one more area, I ask God first. "Is this what you want me to do?" Because His burden really is easy, and His yoke is light, when you ask Him first.