Work

You know how when a group of people is put together to do a task and there are always people who work as hard as they can to get what they need to get done accomplished well and then there are others who don’t really do anything and when they finally get off their butts to start working they drop it half way through and you find them 20 mins later watching tv in the other room? Well I’ve run into that situation a lot lately, and those of you who know me can guess which of those two categories I fit into.
Tonight CFC held it’s 6 TroyToy. TroyToy is an event that uses drama, music, dance, multi-media, and several other creative ways to touch youth and tell kids about God, a few of whom gave their lives to the Lord. We got there this morning at 10am and set up sound, lights, stages, moved chairs, were security guards, tore down, loaded trucks, set chairs back up… you name it, we did it tonight. Now everyone worked really hard at one point or another but I felt several times that people were sitting down and chatting or taking really long breaks when there was clearly more work that needed to be done. At one point I was hauling stacks upon stacks of chairs back into the sanctuary while about 5 guys were standing in the same room as me just talking to each other. When we were all done it was midnight and Elaine (bless her heart) bought us beer and food. I was really tired and cranky so I just went home. As I was walking my feet were sore, my hands were blistered from all the heavy lifting, and my back was tight. I spent a lot of time wording this blog. Making sure that I would get across eloquently my distaste for poor work ethic. As I was passing under a streetlight I looked at my palms, red and sore, and God spoke to me so clearly – if this is the only price I have to pay to see people saved, it is a very low cost. All of the sudden I was confronted with my own selfishness. I was knee deep in self-pity because I thought other people weren’t pushing themselves as hard as I was instead of rejoicing that a few more people felt God’s love and accepted His hand. And by His astounding grace God decided to give me a part, however small it was, in touching their lives. There are believers in this world who sacrifice their freedom, their comfort, their very lives to tell others about Jesus. All I did tonight was sacrifice a little bit of time. Not even a full 24 hours.
The work I did tonight I did with a poor attitude, but thankfully God still uses us even though we don’t quite get it yet. Next time I find myself in a similar situation I’ll just look at the palms of my hands and remembering the blisters I’ll thank God that He sees fit to use me to bless people, bad attitude and all.