“‘Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!'” Matthew 25:21 & 23 (NIV)
We all have struggles. We all have things that are difficult for us. Things that we wish were different. Things we wish we could change. One dear friend of mine has MS. Another dear friend has chronic insomnia. Another has breast cancer. We all have things we wish we could change.
I too have things in my life that I wish were different. And to those things, the Lord had a personal word for me yesterday. His word was this: focus not on the things I have denied you; focus instead on the things I have given you, and steward them well.
What’s ironic about His Word to me is that it very similar to the message I give all the time. My ministry is to remind people that God has given each of us an amazing gift called the body, and your own body is a gift to be cherished and cared for with its own unique crafting in mind. I’m constantly telling people that loving the body you have been given is a way to love the Giver — a valid way to worship. That spending time and energy wishing it was different is not a response of gratitude, but love and stewardship is. And yet, in other ways, I find myself needing God’s gentle reminder to focus not on what He has denied me, but to focus instead on what He has given me, and steward it well.
It can be hard sometimes. I have friends who are single and deeply want to be married. I have friends who are childless and deeply want children. I have friends whose kids have autism, another with a child who is partially paralyzed, and another whose child is battling brain cancer. It can be hard to keep our minds off of those things that He has denied … but I know that if you asked each of my friends, they would, even still, acknowledge that God has been good to them … particularly if they focus not on that which God has denied them, but stay focused on what He has given them and work to steward it well.
And so, will you join me? In all aspects of our lives, will you join me? With our bodies and our hearts and our minds and our souls, to focus not on what He has denied us, but to focus on what He has given … and to steward that well.
Because He is a good, good Father. And I want to show Him that I know it too.
