Afterthoughts

(The following was taken from an e-mail I sent our community group. Aron and Julie are our leaders- forgive my ignorance with regards to the dead sea scrolls...) :)

"So a couple of weeks ago Aron and Julie returned from their amazing trip to Israel and among the stories Aron shared with us, was the story of how the dead sea scrolls were discovered. I will recap for those of you who were not there and have not yet heard this story- as it will greatly pertain to the rest of this e-mail. From what I can remember, there was a shepherd, out doing his job when one of his sheep got lost. He went looking for his lost sheep and walked by this small cave. He threw a rock in to the cave to see if the sheep was in there (just doing his job) and hears something shatter. So he goes in to the cave to discover the dead sea scrolls- one of the most prominent discoveries of our time- definitely the most liberating for Christians as I think Aron said it confirmed the legitimacy of the Bible... (I think that's right) So anyway, during class a couple of weeks ago, Aron was sharing how this had impacted him and encouraged him to keep on doing what he is doing in his job and how God could use someone who is just doing their job to do something amazing- he eluded to the fact that you don't have to be some big preacher or be a missionary or in ministry as your job in order for God to use you- He can and will use you where you are right now- which brings me to the point of this e-mail. I wanted to expound on these thoughts and share some additional thoughts I had after this class and how I felt it might apply to some of you. I hope this blesses or encourages you. :)

Here are a few verses about working that came to mind as I was preparing this. Romans 12:11-12 Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart.12 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times Colossians 3:22-24 22 Slaves, obey your masters in all things. Do not obey just when they are watching you, to gain their favor, but serve them honestly, because you respect the Lord.23 In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.24 Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ. I love the part of the verse in Colossians- "work as if you were doing it for The Lord, not for people." So I started thinking- wow. In Deuteronomy 6:5, we are commanded to "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." If we are truly loving God with all of our hearts, soul, mind, and STRENGTH (as we discussed this past Sunday), that would overflow in to our work and our work would be done as though we were doing it for The Lord because we would be doing it out of a heart of love- then what would happen? What would the long term affects be? Well to the stay at home moms- if we are working as though we are working for The Lord and doing it out of a heart of love for God, I would imagine we'd be (I'd be) much more excited about waking up each day and raising the next generation of God-fearing leaders. I would imagine our children would see God's heart and we (I) would have so many less regrets and owe so many less apologies to my children. I imagine if I worked as though I was working for the Lord and out of a heart of love for God, my children would grow up feeling completely secure, truly loved, and confident in their identity in Christ and I would feel completely accomplished even if I never did another thing outside of raising my children. I would find my success, my reward in having raised 4 amazing children by God's strength and with His love and power in everything I did.

So here is my encouragement for you today- to the business man who is stuck in a suit and tie and feels like he isn't accomplishing anything but bringing home the bacon- know this: God IS using you right where you are and your probably don't even know it. If you are working as though you are working for Him and doing it out of a heart of love, He is using you in ways you haven't even begun to imagine yet- so be encouraged and keep at it. Don't forget verse 24 Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ. To the business woman who wants to stay home because that's what everyone else in The Woodlands does- trust me- if you are working as though you are working for Him, He is using you right where you are. So you don't stay at home, so what? Be excited about the fact that God is using you right where you are to accomplish amazing things- things you might never even know about until you get to Heaven. Just keep working as though you are working for Him and trust that He can, will, and probably is doing amazing things through you right where you are. To the at home wife, don't just be content with where you are, get excited about it- your role right now is to prepare your home and your life to inspire and encourage that amazing man that God is also using. So if you don't feel like God is using you at all- look at who you are working for and think again. Your job is so very important and even in doing the laundry, God is using you. Again I emphasize: Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ. As Aron said- just keep throwing rocks in caves... (ie.- keep doing your job). You may not know how or why or where or when God will use the work you are doing/ have done to completely bless and change someone's life, but know that God will bless you and the work you have done- He wants to use you. He wants to bless you and those around you. Keep throwing rocks."