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TITLE: Ministry of the Unnoticed By Ruth Scott 05/24/07 |
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The Scripture verses are taken from KJV unless otherwise noted.
Annika gazed out the window watching the beautiful white flakes float downward as she listened to the cozy cackling of the warm fire. Then glancing at the knitting in her lap she whispered to herself, “Is this what life’s all about?”
Again she looked out the window, but this time here eyes took in something beyond the falling snow. Somewhere out there on the snow capped mountains was a man riding the range, making sure everything was going right with the heifers and their babies, then when calving season ended, he would return home - home to a welcoming mountain cabin where a very sweet lady waited for him along with five children and a new baby boy.
“Ah, what a blessed lady Maria is,” Annika mused, her gaze shifting to the dancing flames in the fireplace. “to have such a man for a husband. One who loves God with every once of his being and isn’t afraid of hard, hard work.”
She remembered those summer days when she would look out the window and see him working with those wild horses, making them into dependable friends for the cowboys. Oh no, he wasn’t afraid of work. Then she recalled how he would spend time alone with God praying, reading, and studying Scripture; how he was not ashamed to let every know by his life that this cowboy was also a servant of the King of kings. His endurance level was high - his bones heard as steel. But his heart was soft - full of love, humility and courage.
“What a great brother. Thank You, Lord, for Mark and the testimony of his life. What a blessing and a light You have made him to be to others.”
Lifting her eyes up, Annika watched a group of chickadees nibbling at some bread crumbs the wind had blown off the porch into the snow. Then looking on the bare aspen trees scattered among the beautiful evergreens she wondered sadly, “Is this what life’s all about? Day after day - cleaning, sewing, cooking, laundry - hidden away and unknown? No friends, no one to help or to show the love of God to?”
“Beep, beep, beep, beep!” The timer jerked her thoughts back to the moment, and setting her knitting on the floor, Annika hurried to the kitchen.
“Annika, someone’s at the door.” Mother called to her middle-aged daughter who was busy checking the freshly baked bread.
“I wonder who it could be?” Annika wondered curiously, walking through the living room to answer the door. “Not many get out this far very often.”
She opened the door to find a beautiful lady with a baby covered in a soft, lightweight, blue blanket.
“Maria! Come in, please.” Annika exclaimed in delight, giving the visitor warm hug. “What a wonderful surprise!”
The lady gave a soft, silvery laugh as she returned the hug and entered the cozy little home, saying, “Thank you, my dear.”
“What good wind’s brought you here, today?” asked Father cordially, as he and Mother entered the living room.
“A friend offered to watch the children so I could come visit y’all and show off the baby.”
“Delightful!” exclaimed Mother, giving her daughter-in-law a hug.
“Have a seat, Maria. This is your home too!” Father said leading her to a comfortable chair next to the fireplace.
They visited a while, and after Annika had held little Sammy for a while, she gave him to mother to hold and took Maria to the kitchen where the two visited for a bit.
Annika shared the thoughts and feelings she had been mulling over earlier and Maria shared words of encouragement with her.
“You are a blessing, my dear sister. Your parents need your help and this is where God has called you to serve.” Maria said gently, laying her hand on her sister-in-law’s as they sat at the table together, the aroma of homemade bread wafting around them. “The other day I read something by Oswald Chambers that strengthened me, and I wrote it down to share with you. Here,” Maria handed a folded piece of paper to the other. “You can read it sometime when all’s quiet if you want.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Maria.”
Time flew by and soon Maria had to return to her home. Together, the family prayed and sang a hymn, then with a warm loaf of freshly baked bread and much encouraged and blessed by her visit, Maria and baby Sammy took their leave.
That evening after supper dishes had been washed, dried, and put away, Annika got her bible and the letter Maria had given her, and joined her parents in the living room.
Curling up on the couch, Annika rehearsed the day in her mind as she listened to her parents discussing Maria’s visit and their new grandson.
Turning to her daughter, Mother asked, “Did you have a good visit?”
Annika smiled and nodded, answering, “Yes, we had a nice time together. She gave me this letter too. She’s so sweet and thoughtful.”
Mother nodded and Father said kindly, “Well, go ahead and read it. Does our talking bother you?”
“Oh no,” Annika replied, repositioning herself and opening the letter. “it’s nice to hear your voices.”
As she read, the background noises faded and she imagined Maria’s gentle voice speaking.
My dear Annika,
I’ve been reading from Oswald Chambers’ book The Love
of God and I believe you would be very blessed by reading
It too. If you would like to borrow it sometime, that would
be just fine.
Anyhow, as I read the section on “The Ministry of the
Unnoticed” I felt I should share some of it with you as you
have shared from your heart about still being at home with
your parents, and how it seems you are doing nothing and
perhaps wasting your life. You’ve surrendered your dreams, visions, and plans for your future to God. From being involved on a daily basis in the lives of many to serving your parents at home, from being on the frontlines of the battlefield to “staying with the stuff.” You’ve given up to Him your hopes and desires for marriage and choose to honor your parents.
You may not understand why the Lord has led you to do this with your life, and it may seem like the most insignificant life to be living, but remember how He said, “…whosoever will be great among you, let him be servant of all.
“For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43b- 45, NKJV).
Remember also Matthew 25:40 where Jesus said, “…Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
And Luke 16:10, “He is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
“Rest in the Lord” my sister. (See Psalm 37 and Isaiah 30:15a.)
Following are a few excerpts from “The Ministry of the Unnoticed”. May it be a blessing from our Lord, and may it speak to your heart:
“The New Testament notices things which from our standpoint do not seem to count. For instance … the twelve disciples were called for a special purpose; but there were hundreds who followed Jesus and were sincere believers in Him who were unnoticed. We are apt to have a disproportionate view of a Christian because we look only at the exceptions. The exceptions stand out as exceptions.
“The extraordinary conversions and phenomenal experiences are magnificent specimen studies of what happens in the life of everyone, but not one in a million has an experience such as the Apostle Paul had. The majority of us are unnoticed and unnoticeable people.
“… At the basis of our Lord’s Kingdom is this unaffected loveliness of the commonplace.
“…Our Lord did not say to His disciples: ‘I have had a most successful time on Earth, I have addressed thousands of people and been the means of their salvation; no you go had do the same kind of thing.’ He said: ‘If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.’
We try to get out of it by washing the feet of those who are not of our own set. We will wash the heathen’s feet, the feet in the slums; but fancy washing my brother’s feet! my wife’s! my husband’s! the feet of the minister of my church! Our Lord said ‘one another’s feet‘. It is the ordinary common place circumstances that the unconscious light of God is seen.”
Annika glanced up from the letter. “What’s that?”
“She’s reading, honey.” Mother reminded Father.
“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. Did you ask me something?”
Father yawned then replied, “Well, I was just wondering if Maria had mentioned when Mark will be back home.”
“I think she said he’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Mother frowned slightly saying, “I thought calving season was two to three months and he’s only been gone a few days.”
Annika nodded. “Yes, but now he’s planning to bring the cattle down to the ranch and keep an eye on them there.”
“That’s a good idea.” Father said approvingly. “That’d be a lot easier and more practical.”
Yawning, Mother said, “Time for me to get ready for bed.”
“Me too.” Father agreed.
As they rose Annika said, “I’ll be heading that way in a bit.”
“Okay.” Mother said, leaning down to give her daughter a hug and kiss. “Love you.”
Father also gave her a hug and kiss saying, “Goodnight, dear.”
“Love you.” Annika returned, smiling lovingly at her parents as they made their way out of the living room. “Sleep well.”
She sat for a while staring at the flickering fire, thinking how Oswald Chamber’s words were so true in her own life. Then she picked up the letter off the couch where she had laid it and continued reading.
“ ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.’ Jesus Christ was made broken bread and poured- out wine for us, and He expects us to be made broken bread and poured-out wine in His hands for others. If we are not thoroughly baked, we will produce indigestion because we are dough instead of bread. We have to be made into good nutritious stuff for other people. The reason we are going through the things we are is that god wants to know whether He can make us good bread with which to feed others. The stuff of our lives, not simply of our talk, is to be the nutriment of those who know us.
“… ‘And He went down with them … and was subject unto them … and was subject unto them.’ (Luke2:51)
“And extraordinary exhibition of submissiveness! And ‘the disciple is not above his master.’ Think of it: thirty years at home with brothers and sisters who did not believe in Him! We fix on the three years which were extraordinary in Our Lord’s life and forget altogether the earlier years at home, thirty years of absolute submission. Perhaps something of the same kind is happening to you, and you say - ‘I don’t know why I should have to submit to this.’ Are you any better than Jesus Christ? ‘As He is, so are we in this world.’ The explanation of it all is our Lord’s prayer - ‘that they may be one, even as We are one.’ If God is putting you through a spell of submission, and you seem to be losing your individuality and everything else, it is because Jesus is making you one with Him.
“… ‘And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts.’ (Mark 1:13)
“The Divine, the desert, the devil and utter desolation - ‘with the wild beasts.’ If our Lord endured solitary desolation, why should we consider it strange when we are solitary externally and without comradeship internally? Thank God we have a shallow life, but we also have a solitary life, and it is in the solitary life that we prove whether we are willing to be made the unadvertised life for the community to which we belong - whether we are willing to be made bread or to be simply the advertisement for bread? If we are to be made bread, then we must not be surprised if we are treated in the way our Lord was treated.
“… ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:13-14)
“For a man to lay down his life is not to lay it down in a sudden crisis, such as death, but to lay it down in deliberate expenditure as one would lay out a pound note. Not - ‘Here it is, take it out in one huge martyrdom and be done with it.’ It is a continual substitution whereby we realize that we have another day to spend out for Jesus Christ, another opportunity to prove ourselves His friends.”
May our Lord fill your heart with peace as you lean on His everlasting arms, dear!
Keep trusting and following Him!
Yours with love,
Maria
“For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:13).
Folding the letter and placing it in her Bible, Annika hugged her Bible to her heart and lifted her eyes.
“Jesus.” she whispered, then sat in silence for some minutes, basking in the presence of God.
After a while she said softly, “Oh Lord! Thank You that You are God! Thank You that You hold me in the palm of Your hand and cover me with Your shadow. It is so hard sometimes, Lord. So hard. But You promised to take my hand and help me. You’ve told me not to be afraid.”
She sat quietly again for a while then got up, stoked the fire and added another log, turned out the light and then went to her room.
Before climbing under the thick, inviting quilt, Annika knelt down and lifted her hands toward heaven. “My life is hid with You, Jesus, in God. My life is not mine, but Yours! Hide me in Your Blood.”
“ ‘Bless the Lord, oh my soul! …Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. …Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. …Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? …If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. …How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the san: when I awake, I am still with thee. …Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’” (Psalm 103 and 139)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1
Note: All Scripture is taken from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
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