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This is an excerpt taken from Winkie Pratney's "a handbook for FOLLOWERS OF JESUS".
Part 2 of 2
Not praised?
You have been kind to someone. You did him a service. It cost you something to do it. Naturally you thought he would appreciate your good deed. But he didn't at least not the way you thought he should have. You expected warm thanks, a little fuss made over it, but your friend took it quite cooly. And now you are disgusted. You feel in your heart that you will never help anyone else again. Why?
You have ministered to another. You helped someone in need. But you have not been ministered to by his thanks and praise, and perhaps by a little flattery, too!
Not consulted?
You have great taste, sound judgement. Your head is together. You really have what it takes to give advice. But no one asked you. Or when they did ask, they ignored what you said even though you really felt you knew what you were talking about.
You can't understand it. You feel rubbed the wrong way. Your spirit is ruffled.
What is the trouble?
Is it that you came wanting to minister to your friend, and by not taking your advice he is now in a real mess? Not at all.
As a matter of fact, he has done very well without your help. The trouble is this: you have not been recognized. Your reputation as an authority has not been ministered unto.
You came not to minister, but to be ministered unto!
You may speak in public. A good crowd comes out to one of your rap times. You see with satisfaction that Mr. X, a famous and important Christian, is there too. You have a great subject and you wax eloquent. At the end you feel very pleased with yourself.
You naturally expect Mr. X to come up at once, grab your hand and thank you warmly.
But he walks out of the hall quietly without a word. How disappointed you feel!
And why is this?
You ministered to a lot of people. But this was not quite what you wanted. In your heart you wanted that sermon to minister to you.
Perhaps you are bothered about your job.
You are doing fairly well. Your needs are met. But you want great things, and circumstances just haven't lived up to what you expected. You feel down constantly over it.
What is really at the bottom of all this?
You want to make a bigger show, to be thought more of. You want to be rich, and you covet things God doesn't want you to have. And when your desires are not granted, when your love for success is not ministered to, you are discouraged or angry.
Think it through. Whatever we do in life, you will be surprised to find how much of your unrest and how many of your troubles arise from this same cause: coming to be ministered to instead of coming to minister, even in the little things.
- You want a wet day, but it turns out fine
- You want it to be sunny, and it rains
- A visitor calls, when you want to go out
- You are asked to sing, but your voice is husky and fails you in the middle of the song
- The answer to the letter doesn't come
- The phone rings
- The phone doesn't ring
- The pen won't write
- The dress won't fit
- The power is off
- The roads are bad
- The traffic is chaotic, and it's the other person's fault
- Something is wrong with the meal
- There is no meal
There is nothing big, nothing we can really put our finger on, but we are always coming into the world with our likes and dislikes, wishes and wants; and if we are not ministered to in these little things, we get bothered and uptight and hassled with ourselves and with everyone else.
There is a better way to live!
Instead of having the spirit of being to, we can have the spirit of ministering to others.
We can remember that Jesus said, "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (cf. Matt.20:27)
