Because of God

Because of God

Sometimes I forget that it isn’t about me. Sometimes I forget the reason behind doing something…anything…everything! Will I get the satisfaction? Will I be rewarded? Will I be condemned? And what provokes me to do anything?

Remember that series Noel taught last year called “Because of God”? Thankfully, he forwarded a segment of it today as a reminder:

"Carson Daly is Wrong" - http://www.rivwarehouse.com/resources/messages/1024x768/noelheikkinen_carsondaly.mp3

Here's what I said:

1) As you know, we as a church support tons of families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season
We bring them meals and presents and all that

2) Well, one year, Grace and I signed up to help a family with kids the age of our kids
My wife tends to go nuts with stuff like this
And she totally hooked them up
Food
And presents
Not just for the kids, but for the parents, as well
She went all out!
So, we loaded our van up with her stockpile and headed over to their apartment
When we knocked on the door, the family was so excited to see us
We brought the goodies in and hung out for awhile
Our kids were running around with their kids

3) When we left that day, we saw how God touched their lives
As well as ours
Here was a family, the size of ours
Jammed into a one bedroom apartment
And they were thankful to have it

4) We went in because of God
And through us, God blessed them
And through them, God blessed us

5) But it doesn’t always play out that way
There are so many of you who have done the same thing we did
You loaded up your cars with tons of goodies
And you headed over to support these families in need
And when they opened the door
They took your stuff
And slammed the door in your face
Unappreciative
I know this happens because we hear the stories every year
Some of you have delivered meals to homes that are better furnished than your own
With TVs bigger than your own!
And if your focus was on them
You would say
“They don’t deserve this!”
You would grow bitter
And if your focus was on yourself and feeling good about it
You would feel slammed
And you would never want to step out again
Because it didn’t make you feel good at all!

6) But that’s the key!
It’s not “for you” or “for others”
It’s because of God
Because you are his plan to reach the world!

7) That’s why the focus must be on God
When people slam the door in your face
You can walk away
Knowing you have done the good that God has planned in advance for you to do
And that was the plan
And if that was the plan
The slammed door was the plan
And you can rejoice in that

So, sometimes the lesson is for someone else. Sometimes it is for us. And sometimes for both. Do everything because of God. Not for you. Not for someone. Not even for God. Because of God.

I remembered being in Germany last summer. Yi, Joey and I went out to a club to try to get to know a girl we met. We were not allowed into the club because of our attire. The door was slammed in our face. We headed back to the train station and watched as the last train of the night pulled away. Faced with a long walk home, Yi and I grew a bitter. We were emotional and angry. Joey was trying to be the silver lining but we wanted none of that. Half way back to the hostel, we stopped at Dom, the ancient cathedral. As we complained and vented trying to feel better, we saw lightening and a storm quickly approaching. Was this night going to get any worse?! We raced back to the hostel and got there just before the downpour. I think it was around 1:30 am. Looking back, I can see that we went out to that club for God, not because of God. Our skin has toughened a lot since then as we now know people aren’t rejecting us, they are rejecting the Lord if we share the gospel and they don’t want to hear. But it is not about the feeling we experience.

We do not give things away to feel happy with ourselves. We don’t do things for others so they like us. We do not feel angry when a door gets slammed in our face. We just shrug and say, “because of God.” “I did what He asked me to do because of everything He has done for me and because of who He is.” If our attitude is “because of God,” then we know that it isn’t because of us. It’s not about us. It is about Him.