I know it sounds horrible that I even wrestled with it, but I did. “But Lord,” I said, “Surely one of her friends has a cold remedy!” “But Lord, if I take hours for this, how will I meet the deadline? Our finances for the next year depend on this book being published on time!”
As if God didn’t know that already.
And I knew what God was saying. My little girl was feeling miserable. She needed the cold remedy quickly. But more importantly, she needed a hug from mom. So I waved farewell to my mountain, hopped in the car, and went to see my daughter.
When I got there, she broke into tears again and told me my visit made a huge difference. But I realized it was making a huge difference to me as well. My heart started to feel a sense of simple enjoyment of life that I hadn’t felt in weeks. Funnily enough, it energized me so much that I was able to drive home and finalize that entire key chapter that night.
Sisters, we can stare at our looming mountain for so long that we take our eyes off of everything else. We lose the big picture. But serving someone else gets us out of ourselves. We are suddenly able to remember that we are the hands and feet of Jesus, serving at His pleasure and willing to be redirected to whichever mountain He chooses that day.
And when we do, stress is replaced by trust and an expectant eagerness to see how He will work. It brings delight. Allowing God to pull us away from our schedules and use us to serve others allows Him to minister to us, too.
* Excerpts taken from Shaunti’s newest book, Find Joy: A Devotional Journey to Unshakable Wonder in an Uncertain World from iDisciple Publishing
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