Our Eagerness To Serve

“We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.” Colossians 1:9,10 (NLT)

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. “ Romans 8:28 (KJV)
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A young minister was asked by a funeral director to hold a graveside service for a homeless man, with no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest in the area. The minister was not familiar with the backwoods area; it was not long before he became lost. Being a typical man, he did not stop for directions. He finally arrived an hour late.

As he arrived he saw the backhoe and the crew were eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. He apologized to the workers for his tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where he saw the vault lid already in place. The minister assured the workers he would not hold them up for long, but
this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. The minister poured out his heart and soul.

As he preached the workers began to say 'Amen,' 'Praise the Lord,' and 'Glory'! This encouraged the minister so he continued to preached, and he preached, like he had never preached before from Genesis all the way to Revelations. The minister closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to his car. As he was opening the door and taking off his coat, he overheard one of the workers saying to another, 'I ain’t never seen anything like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.'
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In the above humorous story I was drawn to an important lesson in our walk with the Lord. Sometimes we find ourselves like this young minister when we are given a task to perform for the Lord. In our eagerness to serve, we fail to seek the road map for life, the Word of God, or even stop to seek guidance from a more mature Christian. In our excitement to serve, we fail to get all the facts and information we need to accomplish the task that was set before us.

I see another lesson here as well. God has a clear and perfect path for our lives, but sometimes we take a few detours along the way. We get distracted with the task at hand and take another path. This young preacher, unbeknownst to him, was not in the right place, but God still used him anyway to minister to those who were in the path of the detour. Isn’t it so amazing how God can take the detours in our lives and still make something of service to Him?

Lord, thank you for your Word that guides me in the right path for righteous living. May I learn from the detours I may take and may I be quick to correct and get back on the right path you have set for my life. In Jesus Name, amen.