I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do. (John 17:4, NKJV)
I’m at the sink in our church kitchen with my friend Cheryl. There’s been an evening event, and she and I are washing dishes.
“How’s the family?” I ask. Cheryl has three children about the same ages as a few of mine. Her kids are dear to my heart.
“Good,” she says. She asks about my boys, and we exchange lists. Things we’ve been busy with. Commitments we’ve had. Places we’ve been. All the wild busyness that comes with life.
“Do you ever feel like you just…run?” I ask. “Like you spend your life bolting from one thing to the next?”
Cheryl stops washing a dinner plate and looks me in the eye.
“I do,” she says. “But the Lord is teaching me something about that.”
Cheryl’s smile is gentle and kind, and I know that her heart is tender, pliable, and wide-open to the Lord. If our loving Father is teaching my friend something, I want to ride on her coattails. I want to learn, too.
“Tell me,” I say. “Tell me what you’re learning from the Lord.”
“Well,” she says as she runs a soapy plate under warm water. “It’s simple, really. We’re here to honor and glorify the Lord. We’re here to do the work He’s arranged for us to do. The Lord tells us to love Him and to love others. When we’re serving people, when we’re busy because we’re investing in others, it’s good.”
I listen.
“I’m learning to separate out the desires that are purely self-gratifying. The things that are all about me. And I’m finding joy in serving. When God is glorified, my heart is content.”
I stand there, a bit amazed.
Busy has been my nemesis.
Something I try to avoid.
I pull another teacup from a stack and look at my friend. She seems peaceful. Settled. Solid. Strong. Something about her serving spirit draws me. Makes me glad I’m near.
I ponder this for a bit.
I know that it’s important to be still, to enjoy His Presence when life isn’t running wild. We all need our anchor time. Time to soak in His Spirit. Time to rest in His love. But my friend is learning to enjoy His Presence while she’s running fast, too.
And standing there, up to my elbows in sudsy water and dirty dishes, I begin to come clean.
Lord, I’m looking at all of my busyness as a hindrance. Something that is taking something away from me. Help me to see it, as Cheryl does, as an opportunity to love others for You.
Cheryl and I stand at the sink and work through the stack of dishes. I work through this new way of thought, too. Suddenly my list of things to do tomorrow, next week, even the crazy scroll of events I’ve passed through today, don’t seem something I need to fight against.
It’s opportunity. To serve my family. My community. My church. And those who do not know the love of the Lord yet.
Oh, to God be the glory!
There is peace and joy in serving the Lord.
Thank you, God, for the fullness of my life. Let me serve others. Let my focus be You. Amen.
