Patience: They say it's a virtue...

...but who are "they" anyway!?

This morning in church, the pastor said something in passing that sparked an explosion in my brain. And I sat there thinking, "I have something to write about in my blog!" Here goes:

As a follower of Christ, I am called to be a servant to all, to be humbly content to be useful, not noticed. It is easy to serve when people smile and thank you and exclaim over how kind and humble one is (though I doubt I'm still humble after I've been told I am!). But when I encounter someone who expects my service as their divine right, my heart rebels vehemently. When I've been quietly serving someone as my Lord has asked, and instead of taking notice of my sacrifice on their behalf, they childishly demand more, I'm inclined to make an impact on their lives with my fists instead of with open, serving hands.

In the service today, Pastor Miller mentioned the way the children of Israel had treated God. He heard their cries of deep distress and delivered them from Egypt, leading them by His very presence! They yelled, "Hey, what are You thinking? We're gonna die out here without water!" and He gave them water. They complained that they were hungry, and He sent them food from heaven! "Garcon! We're tired of this gross manna stuff. How bout some meat?" He sent quail. Oh, they needed water again. So they screech, "Hey! God! A little water?" And again, He gave it to them. I don't know about you, but by this time, I would have been a little tired of being treated so badly. Though the Eternal One has taken care of every need, no matter how small, the people continually complain and doubt. They begin to take His goodness for granted, and to mistrust that He will provide. They demand their due as petulant, hardhearted children, and He patiently and lovingly cares for them. Just sit and think about that for a minute. My words are weak to describe the incredible paradox therein.

Of course, I don't advocate an unhealthy attitude of allowing people to walk all over one. But often the things at which I take umbrage are nothing more than affronts to my vanity. A favorite (and loosely paraphrased) quote from Charles Swindoll is "The true test of a servant's heart is how you react when someone treats you as a servant." I think that is particularly difficult for us Americans. Anyway, I was pretty much knocked on my tuckus by that beautiful and blinding flash of the obvious. Praise the Lord! May it sink in deep and take root, and may we be better, humbler servants.