3:19 p.m. Today's project was to rise at 5:30 after a sleepless night to pick up a good friend at 7:30 and take her to the doctor. (See my "too -tired-to put-in-contacts" face above). Since no one would be home with Steve, I needed to make sure he got ready also.
It's not only scary in a sleep-deprived condition to have the responsibility of driving two other people from our house in Riverside to Moreno Valley, then clear to the west end of Riverside on the 91 freeway in rush hour traffic, it's dangerous! So I told my friend, "keep a sharp eye out, and yell if you see anything!" since she was in the front seat. I had asked for prayer online before we left our house, and those prayers were answered. Praise the Lord, she got to the doctor, Steve and I went grocery shopping, and I got the cheapest gas I've seen in a long time. I didn't fall down on my feet until I got home at 11:00, moved the borrowed car out to the street, parked my shiny repaired Jeep in its spot, and made Steve's lunch.
Then it was naptime for the next hour and a half!
At 5:40 this morning, I began to read today's selection from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest when I realized that I'd read it already. So I went back to February 2nd that I had "coincidentally" skipped. I Corinthians 9:16 was the scripture:
Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
This was the cry of the Apostle Paul's heart, to preach the gospel. And it should be ours as well. But we can't necessarily imagine how God plans to use us when we get saved, to what realm(s) of service He will call us. I was only saved a few months when the Holy Spirit called me to teach women's Bible studies! But if I thought the sole service expected of me would be studying, writing and teaching God's Word, I would have been limited in my thinking!
God called me to be a wife and mother, serving the six others in our home. He called me to direct the nursery at Harvest for women's Bible studies one year, along with teaching at church and home Bible study. He called me to lead the Willing Hearts, Willing Hands ministry with two dear friends helping women learn the home arts.; and I led and participated in the early Harvest Crusades prayer tower. And of all things, God called me to serve in political office on the Riverside School Board, standing up for the rights of students, parents, and teachers!
Yesterday's devotional was obviously meant for me this morning, as I chafed--due to exhaustion-- at the privilege of lending a helping hand to a sister in the Lord. Isn't the Holy Spirit gracious to give me just the challenge I needed to bolster my determination and energy? The second paragraph states in part:
"Paul's words have to do with being made a servant of Jesus Christ, and our permission is never asked as to what we will do or where we will go. God makes us broken bread and poured-out wine to please Himself."
Each believer has the daily choice--be broken and usable for God, or seek worldly wisdom, physical well being, the comforts of home, or the favorable opinions of those of the environment we circulate in, whether secular or religious.
My prayer is that I will listen to God's voice, serve others and represent my Lord at all times, because no sacrifice of sleep, time or resources can ever compare to what Jesus Christ, the perfect Sacrifice, did for me on the cross. Truly, I can do no less.
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