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How Can You Best Serve Others, That’s the Real Question

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We Spend Too Much Time Focused on Ourselves Rather Than Others

We need to be clear on what things are most important and focus on them first. Being clear on what’s most important is the hard part. There’s always something vying for our attention.

For example, how important is fixing a broken lawn mower?

How could a broken lawn mower become a point of contention for a happily married couple? After all, it’s just a piece of machinery. Or is it?  When does it become the central flashpoint between a man and a woman?

“When our lawn mower broke and wouldn’t run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf – always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.

When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house.

I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again, I handed her a toothbrush.

I said, “When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.”

        (Wait for it)

                (Just a little more)

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp. 😊

I think this broken lawn mower was pretty important.

We find ourselves in a very noisy world. Surrounded by something or someone needing something from us.

We get to decide who or what we give our attention to.

In Matthew Chapter 4, Jesus spends 40 days by himself clearing His mind as He prepares for His ministry. At the end of these forty days Satan tempts Him with food, wealth and fame. The same things we find ourselves tempted with every day.

Then in Chapter 5 verses 1-12, He gives us the Beatitudes, a perspective of where our attention should be focused and the blessings that result from that.

Ultimately, we are supposed to be aware of those around us and help them when and where we can. It’s about slowing down long enough to see and hear those around us and then do something to let them know that we do see and hear them.

When Joe Serna was arrested for drinking and driving, one of the terms of his probation was that he would not consume alcohol for a predetermined amount of time. However, after lying on a urine test, Joe was brought back to the courtroom, this time in front of Judge Lou Olivera. Judge Olivera felt he had no choice but to sentence Joe to a night in jail for breaking probation, a sentence which was carried out.

Joe is a decorated veteran who served three terms in Afghanistan and has two purple hearts to show for his bravery. This Green Beret survived an IED and a suicide bomber, as well as a terrifying experience getting trapped in a sinking truck with his fellow soldiers and Joe was the only soldier to make it out of the truck alive.

While following a creek, the road gave way, causing the truck Joe and his men were in to be submerged underwater. Unable to move, Joe was trapped in place and forced to feel the water rise up his legs, his torso, and his neck. Finally, it stopped at his chin.

Considering this terrifying brush with death, as well as his other horrifying experience in the war, Joe suffers from PTSD. One of his triggers, which he blames on the sinking truck, is a fear of small, confined space such as a jail cell.

So when Judge Olivera sentenced Joe to a night in jail, he was sending this war vet to one of his very worst fears.

Moments after Joe was locked away for his night in prison, he was surprised by Judge Olivera, who came to stay the entire night with the man he had sent to jail. (Judge Olivera was an Army veteran who served in the Gulf War)

Joe said that with Judge Olivera there, “the walls were no longer there.” His anxiety and fear melted away, and he was able to have a genuine conversation with this wonderful person.

After this night in jail, Joe promised Judge Olivera that there would be no more screw-ups. This might not be the usual way the law works, but this act of connecting and compassion was exactly what this brave veteran needed.

This is the kind of thing Jesus did for us. He left the comfort of Heaven and came to spend time with us here on earth. Ultimately, He paid the price for all our screw-ups by giving His life on the cross.

I’m not saying that you need to spend a night in jail or give your life on a cross.

What I am saying is that we need to slow down a little and open our eyes. Stop being so focused on ourselves and see who and where we can help others.

Look for the Blessings in All Things

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We Get to Choose How We Look at Things

Another year has come and gone. Many are happy about this, considering this past year. There is no doubt that it had it’s share of difficulties.

Why does God allow suffering?

Who knows? What we do know is that can’t always understand God’s plans.

Suffering is nothing new, ask Joseph. His brothers sold him to slave traders who sold him to Potiphar. Then Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him, and he was sent to prison. Gen. 37:18-36 Years later the king had Joseph interpret the dreams. He then was put in charge of everything the king owned. Gen. 39:1-47:57

Joseph wasn’t around to witness some of the long-term outcomes made possible by his actions. Each and every action we take or don’t take effects the future.

Regardless of the difficulties Joseph continued to focus on the positive.

History is full of examples of people who choose to look at things from a ‘blessing perspective’. In Andy Andrews book, The Traveler’s Gift, he shares about the Joyful Decision and how Anne Frank, even in the situation she found herself in…choose to look at the blessings.

“Complaining is an activity just like jumping rope or listening to the radio is an activity. One may choose to turn on the radio, and one may choose not to turn on the radio. One may choose to complain, and one may choose not to complain. I choose not to complain.”

“Our very lives are fashioned by choice. First, we make choices. Then our choices make us.”

Life is better when we look at things from a positive perspective. God gives us hope…it’s up to us to accept it. Will you accept the gift of hope or not?

Look for the blessings!

No One Ever Said Life Would Be Fair

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That Doesn’t Mean That We Have to Be Negative

The Scripture used in Pastor Lee’s message this week is one that I used to struggle with. In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells His followers a story about a man who hired people to work in his vineyard. Several times throughout the day the landowner went back and hired more people. Even as the day was coming to an end, he hired more people. When it came time to pay the workers…everyone was paid the same.

The workers that worked all day, thought this unfair.

From a spiritual perspective the story makes sense. Regardless of when we accept Jesus’ offer to an enteral life, we will receive the same reward as those who started the journey much earlier. Just like in Jesus’ story…

All received what they had been promised.

The workers in the story are looking at this from a selfish, what’s in it for me, point of view. How much more content they would be if they focused on the good rather than seeing the negative.

They had an opportunity to earn money. They could now feed their family. The additional workers shared the work and eased their load. Every one of the workers was able to feed their families. This opportunity to work made for a better community in which to live.

We can choose what we focus on.

Actual photo of accident

In 1981 a car crashed through the wall of 4-year-old Nicole Allshouse’s bedroom while she slept, trapping her between the car and a closet. She spent her entire childhood in and out of hospitals. She will be the first to tell you that “Life is not fair”.

“I say all of this to remind you, life is not fair. It is hard. And sometimes, it downright stinks. The challenges we all face are massive. I remember spending holidays in a hospital bed and pulling out chunks of my hair because I had no idea at that age how to cope with the intense pain. I remember throwing up after every operation from the morphine and struggling to come out of the foggy daze associated with it.  I remember my elbows bleeding and scabbing over because I was forced to crawl on them when my legs would not move. I remember the first time I was old enough to realize the scope of my scars and how deformed my left knee appeared.”

However, Nicole choose to see the positive.

“What I do have, is experience in surviving. And I am here to tell you, life is not fair.  No one ever said it would be. You have got to stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Let me say that again, you MUST stop feeling sorry for yourself.  You are wasting too much energy. And too much time. Feeling sorry for yourself will not get that job back or fix your broken marriage. Feeling sorry for yourself will not cure your illness or take off that weight. Feeling sorry for yourself will not make haters go away and will not create disposable income. Feeling sorry for yourself will not make the pain any better. You have to fight through the pain.  And the key to fighting through the pain, is to have a laser like focus on the good things in your life.”

We need to be thankful for our blessings.

The alternative is to feel sorry for ourselves. Too often, people try to build themselves up by tearing others down. The Russian parable called Boris’s goat is a good example of this.

Two men, Boris and Ivan live almost identical lives. Both married. Both work. Both have two kids. The only difference is Boris has a goat and Ivan does not. One day Ivan is walking down the road when he comes across a lamp. He rubs the lamp and a genie pops out. The genie says, “I will grant you one wish. What is it you desire?” Ivan thinks for a moment and says, “I want Boris’s goat to die.”

Ivan choose to look at things negatively rather than positively. We can choose how we will see the world. The view we choose will affect that world.

Choose to see the world through God’s eyes.