I am used to helping others. Being on the giving end has been my lot for a long long time. Today, God has placed me in a unusual place of being on the receiving. It seems like a new lesson on the doctrine of Grace.
On Saturday, a work crew of six came out to cut fire wood on our land. We had about 12 pine trees that had been killed by the pine beetle. The trees were dead and thoroughly dried. The six men that came out had lots of tree felling experience and in the course of the morning, they dropped enough for 5 cords of wood.
God was watching out for the felling crew. As one tree fell, a branch from way up in the tree broke off. It fell and shmucked a workman square on the top of the head, knocking him out and laying him flat! A fellow worker reached down to check on him; and the man mumbled, "I'm okay."
Testing his cognitive function, another worker asked him how he felt. The spunky injured man answered, "With my fingers."
On the way home, the injured mans wife was called to let her know what had happened. Concerned that he might have received a concussion, she asked if they took him to the doctor to get checked out. The answer, "Oh, yeah...we took him to the doctor...Dr. Pepper on the way home." The wife was not amused!
She asked if her husband had any slurred speech or stuttering. They passed the phone to the husband, who then tormented her even more by putting on a fake stutter as he talked to her. Her pity for her husbands injury quickly passed after that tease.
Well, I wasn't home for much of the events of Saturday. I had to go to Kamloops Inland Hospital, to get Jannie and bring her home. I prayed for safety for the workers, and God blessed.
Today is different. Today I am here to see what is going on. I am also the nurse/care giver for Jannie. She continues to mend well and seems to be healing well. Still, I need to be about the house to help her. I made her breakfast, and by 8:00 o'clock, trucks, suburbans, and cars started to show up. The next part of the work team was arriving to haul the wood out of the back acre, and bring it to the wood shed.
I felt such a tension in my chest as I saw the people coming. They were donating their holiday to come and work for our needs. They came from churches in town. I saw people that I didn't even recognize! I felt a strong urge to be out there, and not inside. Yet, it was inside where I was needed by Jannie. The conflict inside of me was raging strong.
I was in a place of receiving something that I needed, but couldn't do for myself. I couldn't afford to pay for the labour. I was in a helpless position, where the only response was to receive unmerited help. It is like living through God's gift of grace, and unmerited favour, but instead of reading about it, I am living it out in a real life drama.
My heart is humbled and full of thanks. There is that initial feeling of needing to pay back or earn the favour I was receiving. Yet, I cannot. Nor is it expected by those who came to help. A thank you is enough. It is enough for these men who came to help, and it is enough for the Lord Jesus, too.
Humility and thankfulness, these are the markers of a heart that loves God. What an amazing God we have who lovingly provides these lessons for our benefit. More than teaching me more about Grace, God is also dealing with the lives of the volunteers who came this morning. Only He knows what His Grace is doing in their lives, but I am absolutely certain that He is active in each of their lives as He is in mine.
What an amazing God! He gently leads each of us on the path that He placed us on. So, I pray, "Lord Jesus, thank you for your Grace. Thank you for drawing so many people to come an help us get fire wood before winter. Thank you for what You are doing in each of their lives. May they all come to experience Grace as I am today. Please bless each of them richly for their willingness to respond to the urging of your will, and keep them safe."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
When you're always the one serving others, sometimes it's hard to be served. Everytime I would try to turn away help from other people, my mother would always remind me that I was "taking someone else's blessing away by not allowing them to serve". I'll never forget that...and teh realization that I often didn'twant to accept help simply because doing so would mean I wasn't perfect and couldn't do everything on my own...I am glad you and Jannie have been such a blessing to others and that they want to be a blessing to you!
Post a Comment