Six o’clock in the morning and my alarm goes off. Naturally, I snooze it until at least seven, then I hurry out of bed, shower quickly, and throw my shoes on as I’m running out the door. I have to be at church by 7:30 a.m., with a smile on my face (and coffee in my hand), ready to take on the next 6 hours. On this particular morning, the last thing I wanted to do was smile. Wet hair, no makeup, and I think I’m wearing the same T-shirt from last Tuesday (come as you are, right?). With only a few hours of sleep and no caffeine in my system, I just wasn’t feeling it. And I’d be lying if I said that this was a rare occurrence or some strange type of morning. This is pretty much what my life looks like these days.
On this particular morning, though, when it felt like my world was spinning 100 mph, when I was being anything but still, anything but grateful, the Holy Spirit reminded me of something beautiful.
Matthew 26:39: “Going a little farther, Jesus fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’”
I think it goes without saying that Jesus didn’t want to die on a cross. I don’t think He was exactly feeling it.
Kind of makes my not feeling like getting out of bed early sound a little silly, right?
There’s a song by Elevation Worship that has been on my heart a lot lately. It just so happened to play on my way to church that morning and one line in particular stood out to me: “I can’t believe that You chose someone like me to declare Your praise for the glory of Your name.”
How often do we get so caught up in the church routine that serving actually begins to feel like a chore? Pretty often-- for me at least. When you’re doing the same things week in and week out, it begins to feel almost redundant, especially when you aren’t seeing “big” results week to week. You may feel like you’re “just” serving in the kitchen on Sunday mornings or “just” greeting people as they walk in the front door or “just” leading a group of teenagers every Wednesday night.
But what we lose sight of so often is that God, the one who created the literal universe, has entrusted you with leadership. He has chosen you to impact His children. He has chosen you declare His name. He has trusted you to be His hands and feet. Who are we that the King of Kings would even see us as fit to represent Him?
My prayer for all of us is that the next time we feel like serving becomes a task or a chore, we will remember that it’s an incredible opportunity, and that we will strive to have an “I get to” attitude as opposed to an “I have to” attitude.
