uselessness

1 Corinthians 15:55 be strong & steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Dictionary.com defines useless as "not serving the purpose or any purpose; futile, of no practical good."

It took me 2+ years to be comfortable being a servant.

By 2001, I had been a music minister for 27 years in the United Methodist Church - large & in charge ;-)

When I came on staff at Christ Chapel, I came as the assistant to the Music Minister, who literally happened to be half my age. I wasn't in charge of anything, not even myself. I was there to serve - to help out where I could, & to do the bidding of all.

That was something of a change for me. ;-) LOL

(Btw, anyone who says "all I want is to be a servant of the Lord" has never been one. ;-)

It's hard to be a cog in the wheel when you've been the hub for 27 years - or at least thought you were the hub.

The interesting thing is that I got used to being a servant - kinda liked it.

I don't think people realize that of those almost 10 years I was on paid staff at Christ Chapel, I was leading a ministry for only 3 1/2 of those years - for 6 1/2 years I was serving others.

I know I underlined this verse in my Bible during those first 2 years at Christ Chapel - those were 2 years I spent in the woodshed - God was doing "behavior modifications" on me (read: beating out of me the pride, arrogance, & sense of entitlement I had).

I felt like I didn't matter during those years - and a few times since. ;-)

But during those 2 years, God taught me (the hard way) that everything done for Him has some impact, some useful result, even though we may not see it.

You may be moving about your days, feeling like no one notices & no one cares, & nothing you're doing means anything.

Nope, not true. If we're faithful to Him, & be & do what He bids us to be & do, it's of use - somehow it all fits into the BIG picture of His overarching plan for humankind. We just may not understand how until we get to heaven.

How do I know that? I've lived it - and am living it.