Dependency

I recently had an experience that reminded me once again of my dependency upon the Lord. I was sitting near the front of our church, waiting for the time in the service when I was scheduled to speak. During a worship song, I happened to turn my head and look out over the congregation. In that moment I saw the faces of people who had a spiritual hunger and needed to be fed. I began to feel anxious and a sense of pressure came over me as I felt responsible to meet their spiritual hunger. Immediately, I heard the voice of the Lord speak to my heart. His words brought complete peace and lifted all the pressure off of me. Here is what I heard Him say…

“Roy, you are not the meal. I am. You have not prepared the meal. I have. All I am asking you to do is to serve the meal in a caring way. As the server, it is not even important if people like you, it is only important that you place before them what I have prepared. And remember, once you have served them, you cannot force them to eat what has been served.”

To walk in humility before God we must understand our dependency upon God. There are many places in Scripture that illustrate our relationship of dependency upon Him. We are told that He is the True Vine and we are the branches; He is the Potter and we are the clay; He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are the body; He is Giver and we are the receivers; He is the Master and we are His servants.

Without the Vine the branch would shrivel; without the Potter the clay would be without form; without a Shepherd the sheep would be without care; without the Head the body would die; without the Giver we would be empty; without a Master we would be left to our own way.

Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility [as the garb of a servant, so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance] toward one another. 1 Peter 5:5 AMP

Comments

[Anointed For Christ Ministries]

Thank you for "serving the meal in a caring way" and for reminding us that "He is the True Vine and we are the branches; He is the Potter and we are the clay; He is the Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are the body; He is the Giver and we are the receivers; He is the Master and we are His servants." You gave us our Daily Bread, and we are satisfied. God bless you!

[Linda]

What a blessing! Thanks for sharing this post.

[Becky]

Thank you for posting such a powerful reminder to those of us who serve that serving is exactly what we are called to do - to present, to pray but the meal is the Lord's. He is the one who will stir up the appetites of those before us and satisfy them when they partake of His bounty. I have an adult class on Sundays and had a discussion last week that revealed many of them are struggling with the big questions - Is Jesus really the Son of God? Don't all roads lead to heaven? etc. I am burdened to show them the truth, and will do so in the best, most clear way that I can but the results are up to the Master - thank you for this timely reminder!