Serving with Joy

     "Just a little show of appreciation, please! Oh, and it wouldn't hurt for you to help me out around here either!"

     These words trailed through my mind as I rushed to put the finishing touches on my home in preparation for the impending arrival of my in-law's visit. The rebuke was instant. I became fully aware of my putrid perspective I had permitted to enter and dwell within me. "Lord, please forgive me as I know this is not as you would have me to think or be."

        'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed -- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.' -Luke 10:41

  

       My name may not be "Martha," but my heart certain was at that moment. I had become so consumed with what I was to do that I lost sight of the greatest of all- merely sitting at the feet of Jesus, praising his name and glorifying Him in all things. Yes, even in blowing up air mattresses and ironing napkins. When I lament in such careless ways towards my husband, I am removing Jesus from our marriage..from our home. 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of the kind of love we should exhibit. Verse 4-5 says, "Love is patient, love is kind... (vs. 5) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." The passage continues to say, "(vs. 7) It also ways protects.." God provides us with our family, and we are to care for it with love. We are to exhibit patience, kindness, respect, selflessness, slow-temper, and forgiveness. Love exists to protect our families & marriages, and God's kingdom from sly attacks from the enemy.

       Like Martha in Luke 10:40 I, too, was prepared to exclaim, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister [husband, friend etc] has left me to do the work myself? Tell her to help me!' Though I did not voice my lament, the thoughts are just as harmful as the verbalized words themselves. It is evidence that my heart has not 'chosen what is better' (vs. 42). When we allow unloving thoughts to permeate our minds, we become more prone to behave in that manner disrupting the unit God has created.

      I paused in my ironing that evening and humbly asked where He would have me go from there. I first must grow in compassion for the work my husband does. It may appear that the man comes home only to relax for the rest of the evening. Why are we becoming upset? Isn't a home of rest and rejuvination one of the purposes of our homemaking? Do I not rise early with schedule in hand so that I may greet the man which has already faced personal and spiritual trials in the workplace as our provider? How selfish of me to ask him to work is job and then to also work his home. God has given my work to be our home, and in that there ought to be a great joy. In serving with joy and thanksgiving, I am gloriying the Lord with my work.

2 Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." I once kept this verse tucked inside my pocket as I went about my activities be it school or job. It was a reminder that what I do has greater significance than the here and now realm. When I work with all my heart as if for Him alone, then my work becomes something extraordinary -- HIS.

I am also fond of Galatians 6:9 which says, "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for a the proper time we will reap the harvest if we do not give up."

      It isn't about who does or doesn't complete particular tasks. Remember, 1 Corinthians 13 love on not keeping score (vs 5)? It's about the heart with which we work towards those tasks. May we continuously seek to have a heart for Jesus.