I don't think it was a coincidence that I read the book 'The Hiding Place' by Corrie ten Boom, just a few days before leaving for camp. The Hiding Place is one of those impactful 'could change your life' kind of books. It left a huge impression on me, to say the least. This is a very old book and chances are, you may have already read it. But if you are like me, maybe you put it off because you thought it might just be too sad to handle. While, indeed, this book will bring tears easily, there is a chord of hope and joy that runs through the story so strongly, that when you are finished reading, the fact that you will remember above all else is that God truly can turn beauty from ashes.
The Hiding Place is a book about a family that unselfishly sacrificed their very lives over and over again for complete strangers. Their sacrifice landed them in a concentration camp, where they continued to sacrificially live for those around them. Oh, how they lived out the Gospel so tangibly and with such joy! Not only was I inspired by their story, I was brought face to face with my own pitiful selfishness. I was brought face to face with my spoiled up-scale living...my vanity...my love of luxury...my comfort in my comfort.
I left for MissionFuge with all of this fresh on my mind. Thus, when sixty girls on one floor had to share three showers...my mind flashed to Corrie and her sister sleeping on flea infested cots and thanking Jesus for the fleas. Rather than complain about the living arrangements, my shift in perspective led me to bow my head and be thankful. When our choice for dinner consisted of a choice of three cafeteria starches, I remembered the grey mush that the concentration camp prisoners were given. And I thought about all the people around the world who would go to bed hungry. Perspective again led me in a prayer of gratitude.
When I was put on the 'Painting, Construction & Yardwork' crew, self-centered me was disappointed. So many others were getting to serve the homeless and/or children and women in difficult situations. They were getting to witness immediate fruit from their labor. They were getting to experience the difference they were making.
Our crew, made up of thirty-two people, were being sent to a partially blind, disabled man's house. A few people would be doing yard work. But the majority of us would be scraping paint off of his porch, so that it could then be painted.
We were given a hammer and/or scraper and told to pound at the old paint and chip it away:
Self-centered me thought, 'Really? Isn't there a more efficient way to get this paint off? I am going to spend the next three days doing THIS--this boring, monotonous, back-breaking work?'
But, as I began pounding and chiseling off paint, God began chiseling away at my self-focused heart.
He first reminded me that I needed to make the 'most of EVERY opportunity (Eph. 5:16)--even opportunities that on the surface don't seem to amount to much. He then reminded me that no matter what I do, I need to do it as if I was doing it for Him (Col. 3:23). So if my task that had been given to me was to scrape paint, then I needed to do so to the best of my ability. Last, he reminded me that 1 Thess. 5:19 says to be 'joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in ALL circumstances.'
As I chiseled, I began praying for the man we were serving. That he would be touched by God's love through the pounding of some hammers. That Jesus would draw him to Himself. As I pounded away, I began thanking God for this opportunity to serve Him. I thanked Him for the overcast weather and the fact that it wasn't as hot as it could have been. I thanked him for my team members I got to serve alongside and get to know as I worked.
And as I prayed and thanked, the self-serving me began to fizzle out and fade away, replaced by the Spirit's other-centered joy-filled fullness.
At the end of that monotonous, paint chipping day, I was filled with great satisfaction. The satisfaction one feels after a day of hard, physical work. The satisfaction one feels when they give themselves entirely for another. From the world's standards, chipping paint may not have been considered all that important. But in God's economy, it was just as significant as sharing my sandwich with the hungry or speaking the Gospel to the lost.
Oswald Chambers' words burned my soul to the core:
"There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out a wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. 'Whatsover thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.'"
"We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle."
"Drudgery is the touchstone of character. There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God's way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God."
As I yielded each pound of the hammer to Him and His plan, He made my heart pound in unison with His call. With every obedient scrape of the tool, He removed my selfish desires. We tend to think surrender is going to be costly, yet always on the other side of yielding is a treasure worth far more than the sacrifice.
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