He Speaks to Me {because I’m sometimes confused on how to be great}

What a reminder I received this morning with The Lord. I have been alone for a couple of days, which is a rare and precious thing to me. What’s a girl to do with time alone? I mean, besides have chips and salsa for dinner and a waffle for dessert? She sleeps! She reads! She de-clutters! She may or may not stay in pajamas all day, take a shower in the evening, only to put on new pajamas for bed.

I also went for a walk this morning. Yesterday it rained and rained and rained some more. These spring-time rains are gifts from God; they wash away the pollen. If we aren’t careful here in Georgia, we will miss the grand beauty of spring because we have to endure so much pollen. We even feel the pollen making our heads so very heavy!
Ah-choo! (We are so easily swayed to complain, aren’t we?)

But the rain that was falling yesterday was a beautiful sight, and as I looked out the window I could just tell that everything was so much more green and lush. And so my walk this morning was fabulous. My eyes could hardly take in the beauty of God’s creation. The birds were chirping their little heads off. The trees were seemingly stretching up to heaven, branches raised in praise to God with their little blooms. And everything was alive with color!

Couple this amazing creation with a clear Word from My Creator, and I was overflowing with praise and thanksgiving. He spoke to me about something that I’ve thought about for a while and have had several conversations with some friends about:  this tension of really being used by God…making sure your life matters (as if this is somehow all up to me). And just like God, He showered down His Word in my heart and cleared up my thinking. And it was beautiful.  I could almost feel the growth happening as I spent time with Him this morning.

Here’s the scripture that spoke to me:

MARK10:43-45 “…but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slaves of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I want to be great! I want someone to notice me and all my hard work, maybe even see a diamond in the rough in a certain area. I have dreams in my heart that seem to be going nowhere. So how can I be great? Are you great if you write a book? Are you great if your kids are genius kids that get a scholarship to school and go on to become famous? Are you great if you make Christian movies?  Are you great if you make a lot of money and are able to give a lot of money away? Are you great if you have a world-renown blog? Are you great if you make all your own meals from scratch and run marathons for fun?  It sounds quite shallow when I type it out: Am I great? But even the disciples asked some pretty presumptuous questions that I sure can relate to!  I believe that maybe they felt like I do…I want to do something great for God because I want to please Him.  I want my life to please Him.  I want to know that what I am doing matters.  Matthew 18:1 says the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the Kingdom.

Luke 22:24 puts it this way, “And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.”

Jesus speaks into the dispute, bringing clarity, but probably not what they were hoping to hear. When He first started speaking, I wonder if each disciple secretly hoped Jesus was about to set the record straight and tell the others that he was indeed the one who is the greatest. Instead, Jesus says, “..but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

Bottom line? The way the world views greatness is the opposite of how Jesus views greatness.

“How to be Great” isn’t a big secret or formula for me as a Believer. Jesus was quite clear.

If I want to be great, I serve.  And when I serve others, I please God because I look a lot like His Son.