Have you ever just finished cleaning the kitchen, gone to the living room to sit for a moment, and here comes your spouse or child that wasn’t that hungry earlier, wanting something to eat?
Your nice clean kitchen and the rest you thought you were about to get have just been sidelined.
At this moment, we have choices of how we will respond:
· Will we serve in love?
· Will we serve in frustration, lecturing the whole time?
· Will we choose not to serve because of the inconvenience?
As I typed this out, I remembered many lectures given at my house from this scenario. I’m not proud of the fact that rarely did I choose to serve in love. All I could do was focus on the inconvenience of the moment. How it was disrupting the plans I had for the evening. That if they would have just stayed on my schedule, I wouldn’t be frustrated or had to have this same conversation.
The Lord brought this to my mind as I was reading through Luke chapter 5. He pricked my heart and whispered, “Serving isn’t about convenience!” A simple phrase is listed in verse 2, “but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing [their] nets.” This thought held me captive for a moment. I know that I’ve read over it moving quickly to the miracle of the catch, but not today.
You see, the fishermen were not about to fish, they were done! They had been fishing all night with no luck and were ready to call it a day. They were cleaning the nets! Just like us, they had made it to the end of their frustrating day and were probably ready to just go home and rest before starting again.
And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing [their] nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Luke 5:1-3
BUT the Lord had a different plan! Jesus wanted to do something miraculous for them and through them. He knew they had worked all night; He knew that they were ready to throw in the towel but He called them to serve and obey. Jesus called them to trust Him even though it wasn’t convenient for them.
Remember they were fishermen and they had been out all night without catching any fish, so what Jesus was asking of them made no logical sense, as a matter of fact, it was not only inconvenient, but it was going to create more work for them when it came time to clean their nets again.
The heart matter here is that we are called to serve, to love, and to show kindness and mercy through the grace given to us. Our service is rarely going to be convenient! Most likely it will disrupt our schedules and occur at the most inconvenient moments. Our service will require us to have faith in the Lord regardless if it makes sense to us or not!
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto [their] partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. - Luke 5:4-7
These disciples (fishermen) decided to trust, serve, and obey what Jesus told them and they received a blessing too large for them to contain in one ship. We may not always see the blessing immediately as they did, but there will always be a blessing when we serve.
We are to do all things to the Father's glory, including serving in love even when we don’t feel like it. So, the next you feel the Holy Spirit nudge you to serve whether it is at home, work, or the market; try to look to Him and not the inconvenience. Allow yourself to be filled with the joy of the Lord rather than frustration.
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