Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen // March 3 // Serving

“I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.” – Jana Stanfield –

I have a friend who ordered an online present for his wife this past Christmas. The company responded that the item was on backorder and couldn’t be guaranteed by Christmas. They offered to refund the money paid or leave the item on order to be delivered whenever it arrived. My friend responded very graciously, “Thank you so much for the update. For as sad as it makes me, I completely understand your dilemma… I would like to maintain my order as is. I think my wife will absolutely LOVE this product. I’ll just print out a picture and wrap it up for under that tree!” He then wished the salesperson a Merry Christmas and God’s blessings upon them.

This was a wonderful act of graciousness and kindness. But here is the rest of the story. Listen to

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how the salesperson responded: “Thank you for your delightful attitude and the love that you have in your heart for others. This season has been so hard for us. Not getting shipments in. Trying to work safely here and protect each other and our families. It has been so overwhelmingly stressful. Your response has given me hope and I will share this with everyone here in the call center. Please continue to be the sunshine you are to others. You cannot understand how touched I am by this reply.”

We never know. It’s amazing how little acts of kindness and service, that may seem insignificant to us, can bring God’s presence into the lives of others. When we care – so often it is the little moments, the smallest inconveniences that make the biggest impacts. Caring for another person might mean going against what’s on the planned agenda. It might mean grabbing rubber gloves and cleaning out moldy cupboards or letting the mess be for now and sharing a cup of coffee. Caring for someone might mean spotting them a dollar for a slice of pizza or simply smiling at the frazzled mother with wiggly children in the grocery line.

When we serve, we must remember that we are the hands of Christ. It is not about us or what we do, it is about what Jesus wants to do through us. Rarely is our little bit the solution to people’s problems. We all have a natural inclination to want to either fix everything or to create distance from what we can’t fix. But when we seek to serve others in light of how Christ served us, we

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can take comfort in knowing we are rarely the whole solution, that we may be one small part of a much grander plan.

God is the One who will bring true change to people’s lives and circumstances. It is our job to love people where they are. But this is not an excuse to wait for someone else to step in and help. The realization that we’re not the whole solution should give us the freedom to serve and to be the hands of Christ whenever the opportunity arises.