Heart Tracks - Why This Waste?

     There is a great deal of speaking and writing in the church today on entering into the destiny we were created for by God.  Most of it seems to center on that destiny being one of excitement, adventure, fulfillment, and more.  To me, it seems that the appeal of it all is based more on our flesh than our spirit.  We're drawn to the idea of greatness, especially if that greatness results in being noticed, applauded, and esteemed.  Recently I heard a middle aged woman speak of a ministry she felt the Lord had clearly called her to, one that was filled with heavy challenges, hardships, and heartaches.  She said she found herself speaking to the Father of the "destiny" He'd created her for, asking Him simply, "Is this it?"  I can identify, can you?

      In a devotional recently, I read the words of a woman who, along with her husband, had been placed in an extremely difficult mission post in East Asia, a place that had a government system totally opposed to the sharing of the gospel.  Every effort seemed to end in failure, every path seemed a dead end.  She cried out to the Lord over it, asking Him why He was allowing them to waste their lives in a place that was yielding no fruit?  In response, the Holy Spirit brought the scripture from 26:8-10 to her heart, where the act of worship by the woman who anointed Jesus by breaking a bottle of expensive perfume upon Him, is told.  The disciples responded,"Why this waste?  This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor?  But Jesus, aware of this said to them, 'Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me.' "  Her heart melted, as she realized that what she, and we, would consider a waste, Jesus considered a "noble thing," indeed, an act of worship.  It's always a matter of perspective, and most often, we end up seeing only the perspective of the flesh.  Nothing given to Him, regardless of the visible result, is ever a waste.  Have you and I been thinking it is?
     What is it, work, marriage, parenting, ministry, that you have "given" to Him, yet you feel is being wasted, where you're being wasted?  Do we see it as an exercise in futility, or as an act of worship?  Those who observed the act, believed it a waste of time, yet Jesus said that the woman would be remembered throughout eternity.  Are we seeing our "destiny" as being something that fulfills us, or that exalts Him?  Do we feel "wasted" where we are right now, or do we offer up ourselves, where we are, as an offering of worship to Him.  Are we living lives, carrying out ministry that He calls "noble," and that will be remembered throughout eternity, or, do we despise where we're at right now, and so miss the opportunity to offer up worship in that place, not realizing that this is what true waste really is?  Is our perspective one of waste, or worship?

Blessings,
Pastor O