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Earthly Rewards...or the Applause of Heaven? 4/3/2008 11:32:45 AM
Elisha the son of Shaphat is here,
who poured water on the hands of Elijah (2 Kings 3:11).
I’ll never forget the time that God spoke to my heart about direction for my life in 2007. He said, “Somebody has to set up the chairs.” For someone who is passionate about teaching the Word of God, whether orally or in written form, that was a tough instruction to assimilate. And yet I knew God was telling me that it was a time in my life of “setting up chairs” for others to proclaim the gospel, a time of serving in the background and giving myself away for the benefit of others in public ministry, as well as for those they ministered to daily.
After “arm wrestling” the Spirit of God for a while (and losing!), I finally gave in and submitted myself to what God had called me to for that season. As it turned out, it was one of the most rewarding and blessed seasons of my life. Like Elisha, I “poured water on the hands” of others in public ministry, and when the seasons changed, God blessed me with a “double portion” of His anointing on the work of my own hands. I am grateful beyond words for what God is now allowing me to do, both in my writing and speaking.
However, if He calls me back to another season of setting up chairs or pouring water on the hands of others, I know now that it too will be a blessed time of service, a time when the ministry He’s entrusted to me will be multiplied many times over. For when I insist on being the one in the limelight, the one who is center-stage in visible ministry, I limit that ministry to what I myself can do. And, according to Jesus, what I can do without Him is absolutely nothing!
I once heard someone say that if we insist on manufacturing our own ministry platform, we will also have to manufacture our own anointing. How true that is—and how humbling! May we all have hearts that are willing to serve wherever God places us, whether publicly or pouring water on the hands of others. If we will maintain that attitude and serve accordingly, we will see the power of God working in and through us, changing the lives of those around us, as well as many we may never meet this side of glory.
Don’t worry about awards and accolades, dear ones; seek only the applause of heaven, and God will bless you with the double portion necessary to fulfill His purposes for your life.
