A Time to Be Served

“For each one should carry his own load” (Galatians 6:5).

And we do.

We live responsibly, work hard, and do without when necessary. We help, serve, and sacrifice to be contributing members of our families, churches, and communities.

But then there comes a time—a weak, needy, humble, broken place—when we can’t be givers. Or doers. Or servers. And we must yield and be served. 

There’s provision for this time, in God’s infinite wisdom and grace: “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). On good days—strong, abundant, healthy days—we carry both our burdens and those of our sisters and brothers. It is the Christian way. The American Way. The responsible way.

But there are other days, days when, as fellow writer and speaker Tammy Whitehurst says, “life takes a bite out of your heart,” or your health, or your finances, and we can’t serve others because we can’t even serve ourselves.

These are the days when we must bow our pride to the altar of need and say, “Help.”

It’s a beautiful, awful, pride-less, humble place. And it’s a place to see God.

We see him in the hands that reach out to help, the knees that bow to pray, the eyes that cry with us, and the easy, gentle words: “Come, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

We’re taught often and well how to give: generously, cheerfully, enthusiastically, whole-heartedly.

We’re not often taught how to receive: graciously, humbly, thankfully.

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

“I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. May your unfailing love be my comfort” (Psalm 119:71).

Whether this is a serving time or a time to be served, a giving time or a time to be given to, we can rest in the knowledge that God has made provision, and God is here. We can accept the grace and goodness he offers and commit to glorify him in whatever state we find ourselves.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

“Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever” (Philippians 4:12-20).

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This devotion is an excerpt from Lori’s new book, Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women.

You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

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• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
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• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

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