"DO NOT DISTURB"
Written by GroovyGranny
Posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 08:42 AM.
Sometimes I think I'm a "Do Not Disturb" Christian. I don't mean to be and don't think I even realized I was until I heard Joyce Meyer talking about it. Now, I don't watch Joyce Meyer often but I was stopped during my recent channel surfing, by the sign she wore around her neck that read, "Do Not Disturb". I stopped because I realized, almost immediately, what she was talking about and it struck a chord in me.
I read about all of the ugliness in the world and know about the millions of hungry, lonely, down & out people, I feel sadness and compassion for them, but am I doing enough about it? Am I doing anything to overcome the evil with the good? As Joyce pointed out in her sermon, Romans 12:21 tells us, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." This means to ACTIVELY do something to overcome all of the ugliness, the evil in the world and not be content to sit undisturbed.
Alot of my time and energy is spent just trying to keep myself IN the real world, in other words, my tendencies for the last several years now, have been to want to lock myself inside my little house or, at least, never leave the property and I have to fight this on a daily basis. But I wonder...what if, somehow, I could get myself out there each and every day or even start out with once a week, volunteering my time and energy to helping "overcome evil". How long before I would be serving with Boldness?
Now, I'm not going to beat myself up and ignore the fact that God has helped me do several things over the last couple of years. I have been able to attend church regularly and help in many aspects there and now, with a group from my church, I am getting involved in a prison ministry and our new group, dedicated to helping the least, "A Touch of Warmth" ministry has been a wonderful new experience. But I know that God can use me in so many other ways if I just take off my "Do Not Disturb" sign. If I can open my heart even more and can focus on my true purpose for being here, which is to serve my Lord, then I can be used in ways I can't even imagine. God will let me know. He will tell me how He wants to use me. I just have to remove that darn old sign.
I don't want a "Do Not Disturb" sign hung on my heart. My desire is to experience the changes in my spiritual walk, to enjoy the life I am living and be "disturbed" by having to examine my progress. It seems a shame to be traveling this journey, called life, only to have made the decision not to benefit from the blessings God has provided. The journey from a fleshly existence to a spiritual one is too beautiful to miss.
These are exciting times. Through our "Touch of Warmth" ministry, we are reaching out to those in need and the new involvement in the prison ministry is sure to prove to be yet another blessing. Our church is growing and we must remove the "Do Not Disturb" signs from our hearts and prepare to receive the blessings of growth and of waking up from our comfortable existence to become fully alive, fully in service for God!
"The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed," Romans 12:13
