Servanthood
Happy Sunday Evening to you all!
Just a quick question....what does servanthood mean to you? For me, its meaning has evolved into something much deeper than I originally thought it to be.
I have felt oftentimes that my life has not aligned with what I felt my life needed to surmise at my age. I have sought often after the next thing, the next step, the next moment so quickly after reaching the next goal that I had developed a spirit of resentment towards my life I was living and felt often that I was living still and completely alone. I watched others reach goals, receive opportunities, minister on large scales. I felt so discontented with my own day to day existence that I wrote as much to my dear prayer warrior and friend in a letter to which she personally responded to in a conversation she had with me.
She spoke of how I needed to submit to a season of stillness and remain peaceful in the quiet time God had (and has) placed me in as I waited for His purpose and Will for the next season of my life.
But stubborn as I was (and am), I took her words to heart, but practiced them?......I tried, but it was increasingly difficult as I was constantly tempted to make my own decisions and take my own steps towards the next thing.
Today, though I have learned much through that season of stillness, I had the occasion to learn more today. It was a rare, quiet day filled with the blessing of worship, song, study, listening, reading, and visiting with friends. Through this afternoon as I accomplished different tasks, I listened in segments a message by one of my favorite women of the Faith, Elisabeth Elliot.
This lesson I learned was both in submission, seeking, and remaining peacefully still in the role God has called me to at this moment. As I have spoken so much of roles and purpose recently, I won't take this post down that path but instead talk about what it means for me personally in submitting to these purposes.
In speaking to a group of both married and unmarried women, Elisabeth addressed what it meant to humble yourself and relate to God. Essentially, she addressed the spirit of worship we are to constantly have towards God and opening up our souls and our bodies in complete surrender to His purpose and making ourselves living sacrifices.
In speaking of this, she quoted Saint Francis De Sales whose quotation I found thought-provoking and convicting as well.
"Strive to see God in all things without exception, and acquiesce in His will with absolute submission. Do everything for God, you're uniting yourself to Him by a mere upward glance; for by the overflowing of your heart towards Him."
And directly following this quotation was Elliot's admonishment to young unmarried women to follow the guidance of Isaiah 58:10
"If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday."
After reading such a verse, I was struck as to its significance and how Elliot incorporated its significance to the lives of single young women. She admonished all of the single young ladies in her audience to take their busy lives, and instead of obsessing over what they do and what they do not do or get to accomplish, they must surrender their goals and begin taking up a spirit of Christ-like service.
Essentially I gathered here that as we are to mimic Biblical examples, predominately our Savior's example, we are taking up the identity of a servant. We become a vessel in which righteousness may be performed if God so wills. The idea is to make ourselves willing so that we in effect are living according to the scriptures and seeking opportunities to serve. Being willing, however, is not the same as being willing and peaceful. We must be willing to both serve and be still in Christ in order to achieve absolute surrender. We must be willing to wait as readily as we are to serve.
As we seek service and the joy that comes with honoring the Lord instead of ourselves with our lives, we reap light. Our darkness, that we previously thought ourselves to be trapped within, was self. Once we step outside of ourselves and our own desires and goals and things we would like to be doing, we must first look towards the Savior. That darkness that we previously lived in for ourselves is something we now step out of as we walk in the light of Christ's love and purpose.
How does this tie into my oration at the beginning of this post?
While I often felt ineffective, still, waiting, and purposeless, I had (and at moments do still as we all do) essentially been living for myself and not seeking the will of God. Once I reached the point of letting go of that, I had never felt so free or fulfilled in all of my life.
Struggle as we all do with the topic of service and fulfillment, I hope whoever reads this personal reflection takes a moment to listen to the 45-minute message from Elisabeth Elliot that inspired me to speak on this topic.
Many blessings to you!
Maddy-
Just a quick question....what does servanthood mean to you? For me, its meaning has evolved into something much deeper than I originally thought it to be.
I have felt oftentimes that my life has not aligned with what I felt my life needed to surmise at my age. I have sought often after the next thing, the next step, the next moment so quickly after reaching the next goal that I had developed a spirit of resentment towards my life I was living and felt often that I was living still and completely alone. I watched others reach goals, receive opportunities, minister on large scales. I felt so discontented with my own day to day existence that I wrote as much to my dear prayer warrior and friend in a letter to which she personally responded to in a conversation she had with me.
She spoke of how I needed to submit to a season of stillness and remain peaceful in the quiet time God had (and has) placed me in as I waited for His purpose and Will for the next season of my life.
But stubborn as I was (and am), I took her words to heart, but practiced them?......I tried, but it was increasingly difficult as I was constantly tempted to make my own decisions and take my own steps towards the next thing.
Today, though I have learned much through that season of stillness, I had the occasion to learn more today. It was a rare, quiet day filled with the blessing of worship, song, study, listening, reading, and visiting with friends. Through this afternoon as I accomplished different tasks, I listened in segments a message by one of my favorite women of the Faith, Elisabeth Elliot.
This lesson I learned was both in submission, seeking, and remaining peacefully still in the role God has called me to at this moment. As I have spoken so much of roles and purpose recently, I won't take this post down that path but instead talk about what it means for me personally in submitting to these purposes.
In speaking to a group of both married and unmarried women, Elisabeth addressed what it meant to humble yourself and relate to God. Essentially, she addressed the spirit of worship we are to constantly have towards God and opening up our souls and our bodies in complete surrender to His purpose and making ourselves living sacrifices.
In speaking of this, she quoted Saint Francis De Sales whose quotation I found thought-provoking and convicting as well.
"Strive to see God in all things without exception, and acquiesce in His will with absolute submission. Do everything for God, you're uniting yourself to Him by a mere upward glance; for by the overflowing of your heart towards Him."
And directly following this quotation was Elliot's admonishment to young unmarried women to follow the guidance of Isaiah 58:10
"If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday."
After reading such a verse, I was struck as to its significance and how Elliot incorporated its significance to the lives of single young women. She admonished all of the single young ladies in her audience to take their busy lives, and instead of obsessing over what they do and what they do not do or get to accomplish, they must surrender their goals and begin taking up a spirit of Christ-like service.
Essentially I gathered here that as we are to mimic Biblical examples, predominately our Savior's example, we are taking up the identity of a servant. We become a vessel in which righteousness may be performed if God so wills. The idea is to make ourselves willing so that we in effect are living according to the scriptures and seeking opportunities to serve. Being willing, however, is not the same as being willing and peaceful. We must be willing to both serve and be still in Christ in order to achieve absolute surrender. We must be willing to wait as readily as we are to serve.
As we seek service and the joy that comes with honoring the Lord instead of ourselves with our lives, we reap light. Our darkness, that we previously thought ourselves to be trapped within, was self. Once we step outside of ourselves and our own desires and goals and things we would like to be doing, we must first look towards the Savior. That darkness that we previously lived in for ourselves is something we now step out of as we walk in the light of Christ's love and purpose.
How does this tie into my oration at the beginning of this post?
While I often felt ineffective, still, waiting, and purposeless, I had (and at moments do still as we all do) essentially been living for myself and not seeking the will of God. Once I reached the point of letting go of that, I had never felt so free or fulfilled in all of my life.
Struggle as we all do with the topic of service and fulfillment, I hope whoever reads this personal reflection takes a moment to listen to the 45-minute message from Elisabeth Elliot that inspired me to speak on this topic.
Many blessings to you!
Maddy-
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