"Our Schools Matter" Session Two: How May I Serve You?

When I think of sacrifices made in the Bible, I automatically think about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. When it comes to our lives, however, is this the type of sacrifice God is asking us to make? What is sacrifice after all?  Is sacrifice a one-time thing?  Is it something you do only when it’s convenient?  Can you even call it sacrifice if it’s only when you want to?  I think a better definition of sacrifice would simply be “being a servant of all”.

Are you a servant of all?

One of the best ways you can tell if you are really a servant of all is how well you handle an assignment - especially assignments that aren’t exactly fun or glamorous.  The way you respond to an assignment will usually determine the level of success you have.

People respond to assignments in several different ways:

1.     Excited and energized to be chosen

2.     Ignore or downplay the assignment

3.     Scared because the task seems too big

There was a girl named Mary in the Bible who received a special assignment from God.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  Luke 1: 26-28

Sometimes “the favor of God” looks like an assignment that scares us, not just God helping us get what we want.  When the favor of God doesn’t look like we want it to look, it can be a troubling experience for us.  Mary first words were, “How can this happen when I’m a virgin?”  We are no different. When God gives us an assignment that is bigger than we are we usually say, “How is this going to happen? I’m ________.” 

The angel confronted Mary’s intimidation by reminding her that “No word from God will ever fail.” When she said “yes”, she knew that she would give birth to the Savior of the world, but do you really think she realized that her decision would still be impacting generations today? It’s possible that, in the moment, she had no clue that she was literally changing the world.

Has God given you an assignment? You may not have a specific “BIG” assignment yet, but God has called each of us to be servants wherever we currently are.  Some only want to serve when they get to do something important, but God is calling us to serve when no one is watching.

So how can you start today?  Are there areas in your home, church, or school that desperately need someone to serve? Remember, before we are given a big assignment from God, we need to be faithful where we are.