Growth Purpose Relationships

Poured Out Example

If you have ever been at a dinner table when someone knocks a glass over, you’ve seen the mad rush to try to contain the spilled liquid. Borders are erected, napkins are thrown down because we know that the drink will quickly spread into the nooks and crannies that surround it. If it’s not limited, its effect won’t be either.

Thinking through this image gives a new meaning to when Paul says that his life was “being poured out” for other believers.  A life that lives in service to Christ and His church in this way, is not a life that is contained, content to simply check off “service” from their Christian to-do list. Instead, a life that is poured out as an offering to Christ is one that is getting into the nooks and crannies of lives. They see unanticipated needs and rush to meet them. Their service is not inhibited by borders – either real or perceived. They are soaking the lives around them with the love and grace of God.

Much like the spilled drink at the dinner table, this will often have unexpected effects. I witnessed this recently with my mom. When her best friend became suddenly and drastically ill, she faithfully served her friend and her friend’s family night and day. No task was too menial and no errand too small. She was willing to do whatever was needed – pouring out her life for the sake of others. It only took a few days for the girls in the junior high ministry, where my mom normally serves, to realize something must have happened in her life for her not to be as involved with them as she normally is. Note that – a few days. She had so faithfully been serving them that her absence was quickly noticed, and when they discovered the reason for it, they got busy thinking of ways that they could serve her – bringing her groceries and flowers to encourage her as she ministered to her friend.

This is what happens when our lives are poured out for Christ. We may not always get to see the unexpected results of living a life of uncontained sacrifice, but God is faithful to use it for the sake of His kingdom. And a poured out life doesn’t just minister to those who they are serving, but it becomes an example for other believers as well.

 

What are some of the unexpected effects  of living a poured out life that you have experienced?

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Relationships

Worry: Large and In Charge

I used to tell people that I was a “champion worrier” recognizing that worrying was something I shouldn’t do, but also finding that it was one of those sins that people tend to “accept.” Later, realizing that God found it very unacceptable regardless of what others thought, I decided I should work on not worrying rather than spending time talking about how good I was at it. God was faithful, and I found that the more my trust in Him grew, my propensity for worry was reduced. After all, at its root worry is a decision to trust in what I know and what I can do, rather than trusting in the Almighty King. When I place my full confidence in the One who created and maintains the universe, I have no reason to worry.

Doing this day-in and day-out is hard. The temptation to want to seize control is strong. Yet, I’ve come to realize that, like most sins, worry doesn’t have an isolated effect. It not only effects us, but our relationships as well.

There are at least three ways worry impacts those we love:

1) We don’t encourage – When we’re busy stressing over what will or won’t be, we’re not concentrating on loving those that God has placed in our lives. This means that we aren’t looking for areas in which we can encourage them, because we are too busy looking for how we might arrange and organize the things of our lives to get what we want. Worry saps our strength – and as a result, we aren’t in a position to lift others up. We’re not intent on looking for the good of the other, because we are too busy focusing on ourselves.

2) We don’t have patience – When we are anxious about what tomorrow holds, we have little patience for today. This means that if people are seemingly interfering with our ability to dictate the outcomes of our own life, our anxiety over the future commands our response, not the grace and love of God. Patience and understanding gets replaced by quick-tempers and harsh words. If we’re not willing to wait for God to act, we are less likely to wait on the work that God is doing in the lives of others as well.

 3) We don’t trust – As stated earlier, at the root of worry is a lack of trust. Ultimately this is a lack of trust in God, but it effects our trust of others as well.  We’re less wiling to rely on others and to believe in others, because we’re deceived into thinking that we have control.  If we have control then all we need is ourselves and this mindset will slowly infiltrate how we interact with others – usually with those we love the most.

If we find that our relationships are devoid of encouragement, patience and trust, it may be because they are consumed with worry instead. We need to be intent then on not giving worry control of our lives, but to trust in the One who controls everything. After all, He is a much better God than worry will ever be.

 

How have you seen worry damage relationships?

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