I used to be a superstar
Shinning up in the sky
I used to do the impossible
With nothing there to fear
I used to stand so high, aglow
A model to all around
I used to be a great delight
To all that came my way
I used to be the hand that helped
The poor, the down and out
Then something happened;
Something I really can’t tell
Something that stole the me
I used to be, now here I am
Wondering, how became I this?
How can I become who I used to be?
Driving from Alabama to Georgia one weekend with a friend, the gist drifted to who we used to be, the things we accomplished for the Lord in days gone by, comparing the differences between who and what we were then and who we are now. I have met a lot of people in similar shoes who can’t seem to reconcile who they were with who they are. Not so long ago appears like ages past and it seems a dreadful task matching who we are today, with who we used to be.
Most often, the present appears a far cry from the past. Times and experiences have taken such toll on faith that it seems we are diminished versions of who we used to be. As the stories rolled by, we recalled friends in similar situations, wondering how they got to where they were, wondering how they will ever get out and possibly return to who they once were. I recalled how God helped me get over that phase sometime ago when it showed up in a ladies’ group where we were doing one of Priscilla Shirer’s Bible studies. As we watched her ministering, I remembered how I once ministered God’s Word with such passion and energy. “What happened to that Glory?” I asked aloud.
God used the voice of a wise woman in the group to quickly recover me from that unprofitable descent. She said, “Your love for God has not diminished, you are just different because circumstance are different. If you were to be in a position where those are needed, you will live it up because the gift of God is without repentance. They are right there, rising as occasion demands.” Those words became seed I brooded on over time as it dawned: we do what we do because of where we find ourselves. Maturity compels us not to force who we were on changing circumstances but instead, to arise to meet the needs at hand. Not forcing but adjusting, adapting, and as Paul said, becoming all things to all men, that God’s will be done.
Because it is human nature to attribute passion to results, zeal to action, success to numbers, service to rewards, performance with promotion, and riches with money, we find ourselves wondering when output and feedback don’t follow those well-worn paths. Yet I have learned, that the life we live is not ours: we live for Him who died for us. We don’t often get to choose who and where we serve: God calls, we follow. And many of us may never handle microphones, never stand on pulpits, not even make a missionary trip to the nearest town, yet in our homes, offices, churches, neighborhood, on the road, at the port, in all the odd places of life, God calls us to be the Christ those in that environment will see; the love that lifts their hearts, the light that enlightens their path.
Maybe it is nursing a sick parent, spouse, child, friend or neighbor. Maybe it is giving up the comfort we are used to so that another can be served in love. Maybe it is bearing with the unjust. Maybe it is living under persecution, serving without appreciation or promotion. The instances are endless but the goal is all the same: God has called us wherever we find ourselves today, to be the Christ in that place; light that glows in the dark, salt that preserves from rot, joy that gladdens the heavy at heart, company to the lonely, help to the need; it could be any and everything.
On that day, we will account for how well we served wherever we were called. It is not about what we think or thought of it. It is not about what others make or made of it. It is about how we carried the cross the we were handed and how much of Christ we reflected to those with whom we have to do. Take nothing for granted beloved, ministry is right where you are, exactly what you are doing: how well are you attending it? Will you be told, “Welcome home you good and faithful servant,” or will it be, “Go that way, I know you not”? The way we attend the matters at hand today will determine.
Blessings.
Glory!