Growing as a Servant: Appreciate unique design
God created each soul in a design perfect for their time and place in history. Let me say that another way: God loves the way He made you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made! The servant of God learns to appreciate the unique design of God–in himself and in others. There is no perfect human being; there is no pathway to perfection. As children of God, we are on a journey together and together, we reveal the beauty of God.
Moses is a wonderful role model for those of us growing as servants. The first lesson Moses learned was his inadequacy. Choosing his own plan and timing brought disastrous consequences. Serving God is holy ground! When Moses grasped that concept, he was undone. His inadequacy choked him, and he tried to excuse himself from service. God gently helped him understand his unique design–and the power available when he placed his strengths into the hand of God.
Exodus 3:2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Releasing the rod to the Lord produced a ‘snake’ that Moses feared, yet picked up again. Our strengths in the hand
of God may look unfamiliar; they may give us a bit of fear…but the servant picks them back up. Our strength in our hand brings death; our strength in the hand of God sets captives free!
When we learn to value our design–stop wishing we were like others–we learn to value others as well. Growing as a servant gives space to others to grow as well. C.S. Lewis put it this way in his masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters:
“[God] wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. [God] wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor’s talents–or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall. He wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognise all creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things.”
How has God designed you? Do you like your design–He does! What can you place in the hands of God for Him to use?
Coming soon: A look at our leprosy–and His healing!
