Taking Inventory

I turned 45 years old in December. The passage of time causes one to take inventory of their life and what they've accomplished. This year I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" with my niece. It spoke to my heart and reminded me that sometimes our inventory is not like God's inventory. We can have our outlook soured by circumstances that are not a finished work yet. You all know the story of "It's A Wonderful Life" George Bailey looks upon his life with all of its trials and wonders if anything was worth while, indeed he wonders if his life has any meaning. He is kind hearted and spends his life caring about the needs of others but is accused of being a poor business man by the scheming Mr. Potter who cares nothing for the welfare of anybody but himself.

Our worth in God's eyes
Sometimes we cannot see with our eyes the worth and value that God puts upon us as an individual human being. We examine ourselves and see only brokenness. We see circumstance that are in the now before they are truly finished and we cast a judgment about ourselves, others and even God. We must be careful not to let the "Mr. Potters" of the world set the criteria for our inventory. Paul the apostle said that he would let God judge his accomplishments not the whims of man. (1 Corinthians 4:3-4)

A look at life without us
It might seem a little self important to say that without us things might not be as good for those around us, and it is hard to get past the idea that we might be getting prideful to even go there. Yet God knows every hair upon our head and every coming and going we make. If we yield our lives to His purpose then whether or not we "see" our worth at the moment we can be assured that we do matter. Maybe you are in the midst of a mess complete with upset emotions and depressed thought patterns. That still doesn't mean that you haven't had a godly impact. We are often the toughest critics of our own life. Your inventory of yourself might not have a high rating at the moment, but remember there are those who would rate your contribution higher. God can make something new from a broken life. His sense of value is far different than ours.

Sometimes others don't see the value in another human being until they no longer have what they once had in relationship.
Whether it is a young person going off to college, a husband or wife who are not getting along, or simply a kind next door neighbor that we take for granted we often don't see true value in someone until we are removed from situations or their presence. I remember longing to be on my own out of the watchful eye of my parents. Yet when I went to college I found myself missing the very people I wanted to distance myself from because I began to see their worth when they were no longer close by. Absence doesn't always have to be the way we realize the worth of others or our worth to them. We can take a moment in our busy lives to make a mental list of the things that we are thankful for about people around us and yes even  good things about ourselves.

Evil intents at work
In the movie It's a Wonderful Life Mr. Potter is the source of scheming with selfish intent. His trickery and mean spirited nature was the assault that caused the final blow in George Bailey's ability to go forward. George felt like he couldn't take one more step and that his whole life had been for naught. The Word tells us the we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We wrestle instead against the forces of the enemy of our soul. We are not blind to the fact that often the tool of the enemy is a human being caught in the devil's trap. George believed the lie of the enemy and it plummeted him into a cycle of self destructive thoughts and emotions that would have killed him without God's intervention. These feelings brought on by the master accuser caused him to give up on life. We must be diligent to not fall for a lie instead of God's truth.

God's view
There is a moment near the end of the movie where George finally gets it. George realizes people were indeed helped through his life.  The pharmacist he worked with as a child was saved from a deadly mistake caused by the grief of losing his son , his brother is saved in childhood by George from a drowning accident and was able in turn to save many men in battle, and the families who looked to him for help in a time of trouble were blessed by his kindness. He sees that his life matters. He sees that the world would be less with out his contribution to it. He sees that Mr. Potter's assessment of his life is not what matters.  I hope as you ponder the well known movie you see that your life has value. Jesus is the source of that value. His love for people and his desire to serve came as a gift from heaven's throne.

The next time you take inventory of your life ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He'll show you areas that you can improve upon. He'll show you those things that please Him about you. Don't believe the lies the devil tries to cast.

Lessons from childrens first ministry experience

Recently our Sunday School class of young children experienced their first real ministry assignment. It was both exiting and challenging.

We made angels for 38 residents on the 4th floor of one of the local old folks homes. My father had been a temporary resident this summer on the floor and we wanted to be a blessing to the staff and the residents who meant so much to Dad for the time he stayed there.

The first lesson I learned was that the heart is willing but often continued encouragement is needed to keep us on tract. I believe this is true of adults just as it is with children.

The children were excited to make the angels when I first explained what we were doing. They even added that they also wanted to minister to homeless people and those who didn't have resources. I was so blessed by their heart to give to others. Half way through the Sunday School class some of the children began to ask about "their angels" and were they going to get to take some home to their families. I assured them that we would try, but our first job was to make 38 angels for the residents. Their enthusiasm waned a little as they began to wonder if they would ever get to make angels for their home. It was a roller coaster of emotions for them as they teetered back and forth between wanting to bless others and wanting to make a gift for themselves or their family members instead.

The second lesson I learned was that I had to pick up some slack.

I found myself finishing up the angels at home. The children worked hard on them, but finishing touches still needed to be made. Granted starting early enough is essential to success, but one helping others to reach out to others must expect to pick up some slack. Attitude is important because if the extra effort is begrudged those you are helping will pick up on it thus marring the experience. When we handed out the angels my comment was always about the work the children did....not the time I spent finishing up. This helped the children take ownership of their project and was a blessing to the residents.

Lessons I learned through follow-up questions after the ministry event.

First, Stepping out and making a difference is something we want to do as Christians, but there is a certain amount of wonderment or "fear of the unknown" that we must overcome.

Second, working through those fears brings blessing for both others and ourselves, a feeling of accomplishment and trust in God to see us through situations as we walk outside our normal comfort zone.

The date was set for the event and arrangements made with both the children and the home. I arrived early and waited for the children to arrive. One of the children had backed out yet to my surprise arrived with the others and took part in the event. She was shy throughout but did a wonderful job.

The following Sunday I asked some follow-up questions that revealed the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives through their ministry opportunity. I believe that adults might go through some of the same emotions as my Sunday School Class did.

"How did you feel when you first arrived?"

"Afraid. We didn't know if the old people would like us or be mad at us for bugging them."

"How did you feel when you delivered the first angel?"
"Hoping that they liked our angels and did not yell at us"

"How did you feel after you had handed out several angels and prayed for residents?"
"We really like it. The old people liked us and they liked our gift."

"Tell about one of the residents that touched your heart."
"I liked the lady who grabbed Grandma's hand (Grandma came with the children) and cried. She was so glad to see us and have some company. She said, "God will bless you."

" I liked the man that was in the room your father was in. He was a Christian and glad to see that we wanted people to know that Jesus loves them."


Are you glad you went and ministered to others?

"Yes"


This year we will have opportunity to minister. We will have to overcome obstacles by setting our own desires aside for the needs of others. It will be important to prepare and do the best job possible. We will certainly have to overcome getting out of our comfort zone to reach out to others. If we are leading...we might have to pick up the slack in some ways. We will have to resist getting a bad attitude or glorying in all the work we had to do. After all the focus of a leader is to encourage others to go beyond their current limits...often this kind of encouragement requires leaders to go beyond their limitations as well.


I'm excited and ready to find other areas of ministry for the children and adults of our church. It's time to put your God given dreams into actions. Start one step at a time.