Thanksgiving and Thanks-living

It certainly seemed hopeless for the German community of Eilenberg that dangerous day in the mid 1600s.

Ongoing wars had caused the walled city to become a refuge for political and military fugitives; various armies had come and gone leaving death and destruction and then arrived famine and disease. The plague of 1637 was unusually severe and so many died that the local Lutheran pastor conducted as many as 50 funerals a day. Martin Rinkart, who had had opened his home to refugees as he struggled to feed his own family, had a unique background. He’d not only been a chorister at the church where Bach had been musical director; he was also the author of more than 50 hymns as well as various dramatic productions.

Then, after the town had endured war, famine and disease, Eilenberg was occupied once by the Austrian army and twice by the Swedish army and during one of these occupations the Swedes had demanded a tremendous tribute. So Rinkart turned diplomat as he interceded for the town with the Swedish commanders. When he asked for a lower tribute amount and the occupiers balked, Rinkart turned to his assembled parishioners to ask for prayer. "Come, my children, we find no mercy with man. Let us take refuge with God," he told them. Then they dropped to their knees to pray and then began to sing Rinkart’s own hymn:

"Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices

Who wondrous things has done,

In whom his world rejoices,

Who from our mothers’ arms

Hath blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today."

Despite their precarious position, the afflicted townspeople expressed their reliance on God, singing their thanks for how he had blessed and guided them, and left the solution in his hands.

Their prayer and singing, so the story goes, so affected the Swedish authorities that they greatly lowered their tribute demand.

As he did then. God provides for me in both times of struggle and of blessing. Moreover, when I recognize all he does for me I can only feel not only humbled but also grateful. Then when I put that gratitude into action by trusting him – that’s THANKS-LIVING!

No Pass

Frank checked his rear view mirror, saw there was no traffic, then used both hands to rotate the big steering wheel to turn the bus away from the curb and off down the street. He continued along his route, picking up several people at each stop until one of them paused to ask Frank a question.

"You’re new, aren’t you?"

"That’s right, sir, first day on the job!" Frank pulled the bus door shut. "And so far I’ve found everyone along here real friendly."

The man nodded then took a seat and Frank continued on his route. Then after a while he came to a stop where the only one waiting was a very large man.

As Frank stopped and pulled the lever that opened the door, the new passenger stepped aboard, his massive shoulders almost filling the doorframe. With his shaggy hair, a jutting jaw and long arms dangling at his sides, he was a formidable presence. Then the man passed Frank’s seat, ignoring the fare box.

"Sir, you forgot to put in your fare." Frank turned to tell him.

The newcomer turned back, his massive frame towering over the slight figure of the driver.

"Big John don’t pay!" He growled and before Frank could say something else the man thumped down the aisle and sat in the back.

Confused and slightly frightened, Frank thoughtfully pulled the bus back into traffic.

Big John sat still for another few stops, then got off, his big arms swinging as he shuffled off the bus.

The next day as Frank approached the stop, Big John was waiting and once again he boarded the bus, ignored the fare box as well as the hesitant driver as he took his seat. Confused and slightly intimidated, Fred just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Then as the days passed and as Big John proved to be a regular passenger while ignoring the fare box, Frank continued to fret about his inability to confront him.

Finally Frank realized that what intimidated him was Big John’s size, so he decided to strengthen himself so he enrolled in a gym to begin a bodybuilding regimen. In a few weeks he had not only increased his strength, he had developed hefty muscles. At last he felt physically capable of challenging Big John, and confident that he could do so.

The next time Big John climbed on the bus and as usual started past the fare box, Fred was ready.

"Wait a minute, sir, you forgot your fare!" Frank called to him.

"Big John don’t pay!" was the usual response, but this time Fred stepped out from his seat and stood face to face with the other man.

"And why not!" Frank demanded.

Big John stepped back, his rough face showing surprise. Then he cocked his head and tried to step around Frank.

"Look, you’ve been riding free for a long time and you always said you don’t pay – well I’m here to tell you you’re going to pay!"

The other looked even more puzzled. "Big John don’t pay!" He repeated but this time less confidently.

"And why not?" Frank almost shouted.

Slowly, the other stuffed a hand into a pocket and brought out – a square of paper. "Big John got bus pass!"

Fred certainly anticipated a problem where none existed and that sounds very familiar since I do that occasionally on my spiritual walk. Yet no matter the size of the problem, I’m very skilled at worrying and fretting about what might happen, and about how I’m going to handle it. Then when nothing I feared or anticipated occurs then I sadly realize that instead of worrying I should have trusted God to help me handle each event as it unfolded.

Are you anticipating problems and worrying about them? A natural reaction, yet so futile when God is waiting to help if we but ask.

Bob stuffed his coat and lunchbox into his locker, slammed the door shut and, grumbling under his breath headed for his workstation.

"What’s your problem?" His coworker Dick inquired." Still uptight about that raise you asked for?"

"And what else would it be?" Bob snapped. "I need that raise!"

"I hear the boss is under pressure to cut costs," Dick told him.

"I’ve been due a raise for 2 years and when I ask about it the boss keeps putting me off." Bob said. "But I’m tired of waiting! I need an answer now!"

He stalked across the factory floor to the manager’s cubicle and barged in. The boss looked up.

"Boss, I need to know about that raise!" Bob demanded." What about it?"

The boss sighed. "Okay, I just got an answer from the plant managers. Here it is." He held out a sheet of paper. Bob read the print: "Because of the fluctuation predisposition of your position’s productive capacity as juxtaposed to standard norms, it would be momentarily injudicious to advocate your requested increment."

Bob cocked his head with a furrowed brow. "If this is about my pay raise, I don’t get it."

The boss nodded soberly. "That’s right, you don’t."

Every now and then God has to deny me something I really want and like Bob I can get irritated or even angry since I’m sure my request is exactly what I want and need and I don’t see why he’d deprive me of it!

Yet what often happens is that eventually I see that what I wanted was entirely wrong and what God provided was far better than what I asked for originally.

Then when this happens then I learn to see his denials as for my benefit and his glory.

The Silent Message

"Let’s quiet down!" Harry raised his voice to be heard over the din of voices. "We’ve got to decide this tonight."

Harry looked around at the dozen people who sat at the table with him, some of them grumbling and all like Harry frustrated at the lack of consensus on the issue before them.

It was simple enough: should they move their small business to a bigger building or stay where they were? Harry knew the expansion supporters had said that their current offices were too small and if they moved they could add new customers and then grow. Yet the opponents insisted that the current economic climate was unsure and the move was risky. Opinions were strong and several times Harry had to call for order several times when tempers got short.

However, Harry noticed that one member of the board had so far been silent, watching the growing turmoil with a sober expression. Mr. Jones had been on the board from the beginning and had been Harry’s predecessor as chairman. Because of his experience, Mr. Jones was greatly respected and Harry knew that all the board members would have welcomed Mr. Jones’ support of their side of the issue.

Harry knocked on the table again to end a new argument and turned to the older man. "Mr. Jones, we’re apparently deadlocked on the subject and since we all respect your experience we’d like to hear what you have to say"

Mr. Jones shifted in his seat and said nothing.

Harry persisted gently. "So far you’ve not said anything, and I’m sure we would like to hear your opinion about this matter."

Mr. Jones finally spoke. "I have discovered," he replied, "that there are many times when silence is an opinion."

Sometimes God can answer me the same way when he’s silent about something I’ve asked for and I gradually discover that his silence or lack of immediate response is his answer. In short, his opinion that I should wait. But why? There could be any number of reasons: perhaps he’s waiting for something we’ll never know about to occur before he can answer. Or maybe he wants us to learn to trust him until he does give us an answer.

God’s silence an opinion? Perhaps – but if it is then even when it’s silent his opinion is always perfect.

If He Had Not Come

"I’ve always wondered about something." Jason mused to his wife on Christmas Eve. "What would it be like if Jesus had not been born and there was no Christmas?"

His wife smiled slightly and her answer was casual. "I’m not sure, but it’s interesting to think about." So Jason did, and in fact he was still doing so as he fell asleep and soon he was dreaming.

He seemed to be walking down the street in his neighborhood on Christmas morning but things were certainly different! The houses that had previously been decorated with colored lights were now swathed in darkness and where one neighbor had had a life-sized nativity scene that lawn was now bare. As Jason walked further along the street toward the stores he realized that the shops were all open and doing regular business. At a toy store, instead of the Santa’s workshop scene he’d seen the day before, now the window was stocked with everyday toys and no sign of Santa. Further on down the street he again paused at a department store where the displays were also routine, and there was no Christmas music playing. Also missing was the charity bell ringer who the day before had been standing outside the store with his kettle.

"Surely there will be Christmas at our church!" Jason told himself, yet when he arrived at the corner, looking for his church there was nothing but a vacant lot! Further along the street, he passed a huddled group of street people trying to keep warm outside a boarded up building. "That’s should be the mission!" He thought, "They feed and shelter folks like that but what’s happened to it?" Then he remembered if Jesus had not come, then there was no church or any reason for anyone to want to help the needy.

He walked further down the street past the hospitals he knew were operated by his and other churches – again vacant lots! And though there was a public hospital, there were many people outside, lined up waiting to get in.

Then he began to look for his favorite Christian bookstore, but while there was a bookstore in that location the name was different and as with the other stores the window display had changed. Previously the window had contained Christian books and Bibles but those were gone and in their place were books on subjects he knew a Christian bookstore would never sell. There was a clerk arranging the window and Jason asked him about it. "Where are the Bibles?" He asked the clerk. "What’s a Bible? I never heard of such a thing!" He was told.

"No!" Jason screamed, awakening suddenly and sitting up, and awakening his wife. She turned on the light.

"What’s the matter? Did you have a bad dream?" His wife asked.

"It was terrible!" He told her and then related what he’d seen. "Not only was there no Christmas it was as if Jesus had never come!" Then he paused. "You know, I guess I got the answer to my question. That dream showed that if Jesus had never come, we’d not only have no Christmas, but we would never have known what God is really like, and how he shows his love to us. Also, we wouldn’t have the desire to share that love."

"I never thought of it that way," his wife admitted. "But you’re right. But I’m glad Jesus came!" She smiled and glanced at the clock by their bed. "And since it’s past midnight, I can be the first to wish you a merry Christmas!"

The Star in the Window

It was a week before Christmas when Jeff and his small son Tony took a long walk through their neighborhood since they didn’t drive much anymore because of the gas rationing that was in effect. War news was the major subject of neighborhood conversation as they all followed the Allies’ progress in both Europe and in the Pacific. Because of a previous injury, Jeff was not in the army, but he and his wife both worked in the defense industries, and arranged their shifts to care for their son.

Now as they walked, Tony and Jeff passed many houses decked out for Christmas, many with wreaths on the doors, and many with decorated Christmas trees visible in front window, trees lit with colored lights and frosted tinsel that gleamed out as they passed by. However, in many of the windows, along with the holiday decorations, was a sign with a star centered on it, and that that was what Tony suddenly noticed. They stopped at one neighbor’s house with such a sign in the window and Tony suddenly asked what Jeff was not ready for: "Daddy, how come that house has a star on it?"

Jeff sighed. He did not look forward to having to explain the tragic idea of war to a small boy. How could he put in plain words the reality of how hatred, greed and a hunger for power endangered the freedoms of their nation and others? However, he did the best he could, as he gently explained as simply as he could, stressing that the stars indicated a home where the family in that house had loved their country so much that they had sent their sons to fight for its freedom and security. Tony didn’t seem disturbed and in fact he even seemed inspired by the concept. Then as they continued their walk and Tony continued to point out the beautiful Christmas decorations, he also happily indicated the homes with the service stars, particularly those with more than one.

Then they came to the end of the road where the houses stopped and the Christmas lights ended, where the only illumination was from the twinkling pattern of stars that were dusted over the black sky above them. One far off star was particularly bright, and the boy stood for a few seconds looking up at it. Then he smiled and pointed.

"Look, Daddy, it’s like you said! God sent his Son Jesus and he has a star in his window!"

The child probably didn’t realize it, but he’d actually given a perfect explanation for Christmas. It’s that God loved his world so much that he sent his Son into that same world to assure that those who believe and follow him would have security and freedom- security in times of struggle and trouble and freedom to serve God without worry or fear. God’s gift at Christmas – himself.

How the Carols Came to Be: "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

Perhaps he paused in the moonlight above the small Palestinian community in the 1860s, and gazed down in contemplation at what had occurred there so many years before. What would it have been like? Maybe the town was quiet, the residents asleep, silent except perhaps for the bray of a donkey, the bark of a dog, or if the observer could hear it, the reassuring hush of a mother over her sleepless child. There so many years before the town had also slept as in what might have been a cave a weary young woman looked on the sleeping form of her newborn son and then looked up in puzzled confusion as her husband came to say some scruffy shepherds were outside with a story about an angels.

The memory of that sleeping town returned several years later to that man who’d paused to ponder over the town of Bethlehem when as pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia he had a challenge. He needed to find just the right song for the Sunday school children to sing during their Christmas program and the memories and the meaning of what he’d seen and thought may have come flooding back as he sat at his desk, dipped his pen and the words flowed:

"O little town of Bethlehem,

How still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by;"

The stars had indeed been bright that night he’d stood above Bethlehem, flickering their winking illumination down on the scene. And there were more memories:

"Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light –

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight."

The words flowed that day during the Christmas season in 1868, as he continued to describe the scene and how within that silence so long ago the young woman’s newborn son was God. God himself! Coming to dwell among his people!

Perhaps with a sense of wonder at what he’d written, Phillips Brooks took the newly written poem to his organist and Sunday school superintendent Lewis H. Redner and asked him to compose a simple melody for the children could learn easily. After struggling for a long time for inspiration, Redner then took a nap, but awoke abruptly and the right melody took form. Publication followed later in 1874.

Brooks was a pastor in both Philadelphia and later in Boston from 1869 to 1891 when he became an Episcopal Bishop of that area, serving two years till his death. At 6 ft. 6 inches, Brooks was an extremely tall man for his time and had an equally impressive record as preacher even appealing to the liberal church members of his time.

Though he was a prominent, influential and well-loved clergyman of his time, we remember him most for his poem – based on that memory of a visit and the song it inspired. The message of "The Little Town of Bethlehem" has continued to echo down the years to encourage and inspire others that also look to the "Holy Child" that Brooks welcomed in his words. And we continue to pray with Brooks…

"O Holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in –

Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us

Our Lord Immanuel!"

Joey Had it Right!

Sue looked up from her dinner preparation to see her small son Joey come hopping into the kitchen. "Did you have a good time at choir practice?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Joey was bubbling in his enthusiasm. "We had cookies! And you know what? We learned a new song! Did you know that a manger is a feed box and that when baby Jesus was born in the barn they had to use the feed box as a baby bed?"

"Yes, I’d heard that," Sue smiled at him. "Is there a manger in the song you learned?"

"Yeah, and the baby Jesus didn’t have a crib so he lay down his head…" Joey offered. "We’re going to sing it Sunday."

"Go wash up for supper." Sue told him as she remembered the upcoming Christmas program would probably contain their song.

Joey skipped into the bathroom and amidst the splash of the water as he began to sing, Sue realized he didn’t have the words quite right, for he was singing: "The Way in the Manger."

Joey’s words may not have been completely correct but in another way actually he was right. Jesus indeed was the Way, not just for Salvation but also to help us more fully understand God and how he demonstrated his loving solicitude for his people by sending the Christ child into the world. For what better way to show how much He cared about us than to give a gift of himself? It would have been so easy to remain aloof and distant but instead he imparted his son to a flawed world to show his loving personal involvement and concern.

Jesus Christ – the true Way to totally understand God.

Is Anyone There?

Caroline punched in the next number on her list, waited while the phone began to ring and hoped that she wouldn’t get another rude hang-up. It wasn’t easy being a telephone operator for a busy medical practice calling the people to remind them of their appointments but it did help the patients who might otherwise forget. Maybe this call – to a young woman for a previously scheduled well woman exam – would go better.

"Hello." The whispered voice was a child’s.

"Hello! Is your mommy there?" Caroline lapsed into her perky voice.

"No, she’s busy." The child continued to whisper.

Caroline became friendly. "What’s your name?"

"Jimmy."

"And how old are you, Jimmy?"

"Four."

"Jimmy, is Daddy home?"

"He’s busy, too."

Caroline paused. This was certainly unusual since she knew most responsible parents wouldn’t leave the child and phone unsupervised. "Is there anyone else there, Jimmy?"

"The police." Jimmy whispered even more softly.

Caroline was now concerned. Had something happened to the family? "Can I speak to one of them?"

"They’re busy, too."

"Jimmy, are there any other grown-ups there with you?"

"There’s lots of firemen here."

"Then can I speak to one of them?"

"They’re all busy."

Caroline put a firm tone in her voice. "Jimmy, what’s going on? You’ve got all those people there in your house and you say they’re all busy. What are they doing?"

Jimmy’s whisper was almost inaudible. "Looking for me."

Jimmy may have thought the situation was fun, but being lost, especially being lost from God can be quite traumatic. Whether we’ve drifted away from him because of unconfessed sin or spiritual apathy, eventually we can’t help but experience the sense of hopelessness and isolation that comes when we miss God in our lives. It’s as if there we have a gnawing void that only God’s presence can fill. So what’s the answer? Since we can only plug the nothingness with God’s presence then we must regain it by confession of sin and a renewed desire to become reconnected and when we do that then we are no longer lost.

Get Used to It!

"There’s something different about you recently but I’m not sure what it is." Doris told her coworker Ramona one day at the office.

"What do you mean?" Ramona replied.

"I know what it is!" Doris decided. "For several weeks you’ve seemed uptight about something and just recently you seem more relaxed."

"Oh, that. It’s probably because of my neighbor’s boy and his piano lessons." Ramona nodded. "I told you about that, didn’t I?"

"I think so. He was really bad, wasn’t he?"

"Miserable! But what’s really excruciating is that I have to hear it! He could practice while I’m at work, but no, he has to start up in the evening just as I was getting home and since we live in an apartment building that has really thin walls I can’t escape it! I love good piano music but this is enough to drive you crazy!"

"But what’s happened?"

"Well, suddenly this morning I realized that it doesn’t seem to bother me any more." Ramona remarked.

"Did he quit playing?"

"No, but it just doesn’t bother me and I’m not sure why. Either he’s improved or I’ve gotten used to it!"

Eventual familiarity with the situation was the solution to Ramona’s problem and sometimes that’s exactly how God answers our prayers. It can happen when we have a bothersome problem and we pray for God to remove it. However, he may have other ideas, for while he could remove it, often he doesn’t eliminate or change the problem but instead changes our attitude to it. Perhaps he gives us the extra strength to overcome or even look beyond the situation in such a way that we can deal with it and move on.

Yet no matter how he answers our prayers, his solutions are always perfect, and while we may not have to cope with a would-be pianist we can be assured that whatever way he chooses to help us will be ideal.

God’s Priorities

The story goes that once a man had an opportunity to talk with God and he had a question.

"How long is a million years to you?

"That’s easy," God replied. "A million years to me is just like a single second in your time."

The man had another question. "And how much is a million dollars to you?"

"That’s easy also," God smiled tolerantly. "A million dollars to me is like a penny to you."

The man pressed further since he’d been so successful. "God, could I have one of your pennies?"

God smiled even more broadly. "Of course. Just a second."

It’s really impossible to fully comprehend the vast difference between our way of thinking and how God sees things. Our humanity so limits us from comprehending all the seen and unseen aspects in our lives. However, though we know that God is completely familiar with all aspects of our lives, we can’t seem to understand how he doesn’t always share our ideas of what we think is really important. For example, while we’re concerned and obsessed with the daily routine God is looking beyond all that, concerned with the eternal while we dwell on the momentary.

God’s priorities – do we share them or deny them?

Yokefellows

Looking out at the throng on the dusty streets of Israel, Jesus saw a crowd of seekers, scoffers and those between. He knew that some would welcome his words, some would sneer in disbelief and others would listen with casual interest at first and then maybe believe. Yet no matter their interest or lack of it, Jesus knew that they all were coping with struggles, seen and unseen, and among them the harshest of these were the many petty restrictions imposed by the religious authorities. Yet whatever their burdens were, these people needed relief and encouragement and that was what Christ intended to give them. "Come unto me.. and I will give you rest…," He told them. "Take my yoke upon you…you shall find rest… " and then he added the reassurance that would more carefully define the meaning of the image: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-31).

Like those people in Jesus’ audience we also seek relief and encouragement with our burdens and like they did we can find Jesus’ words particularly appealing. However, what’s this about a yoke and what does it mean? It might have been a familiar image to Jesus’ audience but chances are we’ve never seen a yoke and most of us have no idea of how it works.

The dictionary defines a yoke as a "contrivance for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow shaped pieces enclosing the head of each animal." It also uses the word for the animals themselves so often two oxen yoked together are called a "yoke of oxen". Yet what does that mean to me as a modern Christian? I didn’t have to go far to get my answer.

"I think it means that I’m a yokefellow with Christ," a minister friend told me when I asked what it meant to her. "It means I’m yoked to him and work with him." And that was it.

The yoke works because it links the oxen and as they push their shoulders against the bow, they pull the plow or wagon attached to the yoke. It’s just an easier way of pulling. However, while it’s confining that limitation guarantees that they will stay close to their yokemate as well as remain focused on the task ahead. Still, despite these aspects there’s also the advantage that they work together, since each yokemate takes half the burden.

Jesus’ yoke is of course spiritual but it does bear certain similarities to an actual yoke.

A close relationship to my yokefellow is vital so if I’m linked to Christ then I must stay close to him because my spiritual yoke confines me. However, if I try to move away from him then I’m the one who’s seeking the separation, not him. I know he would never abandon me.

Also, since yokemates must remain focused on the task ahead, if I’m yoked to Christ then I must pay attention to what’s immediately before me. I must not be occupied with what’s around me where I can be distracted or behind me where I might regret, but ahead of me where Christ’s work lies.

Yet while animals yoked together each take on half the pulling burden it doesn’t work that way in my relationship with Christ, for with him as my yokefellow he is the one who does the pushing. And that’s where I learn the true meaning of his description of his yoke as "easy" and his burden as "light." For I operate on his strength alone because I could never have the power and ability required for what he has planned.

So as I yoke myself with Christ and though I must remain close to him, and focused on what is ahead, I can rely on his strength alone to truly serve him, for my benefit and his glory.

Small Matters

Tony looked out of his office door to see the huddle of small children in the hall gathered around their teacher as she explained what they were about to see as they visited the police offices. Such school groups were a common sight in the building and while some of the older kids sometimes acted bored, most kids seemed fascinated by what they saw and heard.

However, Tony knew the tours were important to help citizens to understand how the police worked and how they needed public cooperation. In fact, he vitally needed it right now with a serious case. He was anxious to get a dangerous character off the street and those who might know his whereabouts seemed reluctant to talk to him. Why didn’t they understand how important it was? He was only trying to help them!

The group passed Tony’s office and he was about to return to his paperwork when he turned back as he heard a small voice and then saw a round face with two wide brown eyes looking up at him. Obviously a straggler from the last group, and clad in bright red outfit and sporting two large red bows on two braids that angled out from her face, the little girl had a question.

"Are you a police officer?" Her voice was soft.

"Yes, I am." Tony found himself lapsing into his "Officer Friendly" mode. "My name is Tony. What’s yours?"

"Jessica." Again the soft voice. "My mommy always said that if I needed help I should ask a police officer."

"That’s a good idea. The police are always ready to help." Tony squatted down to her level." This was a perfect chance to show even a small child how helpful the police could be. It could even be that she was concerned about something that would give him some help on a current case. "How can I help you?"

Jessica balanced herself on one foot as she stuck out the other. "Can you tie my shoe?"

Tony may have been disappointed that Jessica’s problem was so small but sometimes it works that way on our spiritual journey when you want to do great things for God and somehow it just doesn’t work out that way. Perhaps you want to serve God through leading a Bible study and instead you’re asked to give the members reminder calls. Or perhaps you wanted to head an important church committee but instead you’ve been assigned to take notes while someone else talks. It’s as if you’re being passed over, feeling that instead of doing great things for God, you’re limited to staying behind the scenes.

So what’s the answer? Is it actually possible to serve God in such a limited way?

Of course we can and in fact we often serve him best "behind the scenes" since we’re not distracted by excessive attention. However, no matter the visibility of our service for God everything we do is of equal importance to him.

Beyond Ordinary

"Now what have you brought?" Mark smiled at the teenager who took her seat as his table at the antique and collectable show where he was doing appraisals

The girl leaned back as Mark’s associate wheeled up a cart holding the object Mark was to appraise. This was a bronze statue several feet tall, depicting a beautiful woman draped in flowing garments.

"My grandmother got this for us at an estate sale several years ago since she knew our family loved Greek mythology." She pointed to a metal plaque on the base that gave the name of the figure as a nymph who had been a character in a Greek myth. She also pointed out a carved signature on the base of the statue. "We looked up the name of the sculptor but really didn’t find much."

However, the sculptor’s name meant something to Mark and he generally discussed the artist and his work. "Actually we don’t see many of his pieces very often and this is a particularly fine one." Then he asked the question that he always did. "Do you know how much your grandmother paid for it?"

"No, but I’m sure it wasn’t much more than $20. She said that the people having the sale were cleaning out their mother’s house after her death. The mother had lots of junk and they thought they had a buyer for the house so they needed to get rid of the stuff fast "

Mark had another question. "And how much do you think it’s worth?"

"I don’t have any idea." The girl replied. "We’ve had it at our house for a few years and on an impulse I brought it in."

"Well, I’m glad you did because this is a beautiful and special piece. Like I said, we don’t see much of this man’s work come up for auction and the ones that do aren’t in as good a condition as this one. In fact, the last one we had come up was smaller and had some damage but we got a good price because it was so rare. I think the final bid was $20,000. But I can confidently say that since this one is bigger, and because it’s so rare and in such good condition it could go for $50,000 to $75,000."

He watched the girl’s eyes grow larger and larger, her mouth gape open and her jaw drop. "Are you okay? I hope I gave you some good news!"

The girl tried to regain her voice. "I had no idea it was worth so much!" She lifted a trembling finger to indicate the sculpture. "We use it as a doorstop!"

That girl certainly found something she considered ordinary was extremely valuable and it can be the same way with how we perceive our own value. Did you ever think of yourself as ordinary or average? Or that you aren’t very special? You may well do that but God doesn’t see you that way.

He sees you as just as precious, special and valuable despite how you see yourself. After all, he has a specially designed plan for you – something he certainly wouldn’t do for just anyone! He is only waiting for you to trust him and set off in faith where you can experience his true love and provision.