Step Out

Devotional for 11/10/2014 "Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents." - Matthew 25:16 We recently had high winds in our area followed by a torrential downpour dumping quite a few inches of rain. Apparently, the winds ripped a shingle off my garage roof, and something pricked a hole in the paper under the shingles. When the downpour started, I saw a major leak! I soon found that the five-gallon bucket I had under the hole had to be dumped every few hours, and I knew it would never hold all of the rain that would stream through the roof overnight. The roofers were too busy to get to my house until a couple of days later, and I wondered what I could do to protect my summer furniture, which was stored under that part of the roof. I asked the Lord for help, and almost at once my eyes lit on a 30-gallon garbage can. It was not designed for the purpose of catching rainwater, but it worked perfectly, and it kept my garage from flooding during the night. In our churches, for one reason or another, we are sometimes pressed into service for jobs we do not feel especially “designed” to do. A few years back, I was asked to take over the Sunday school superintendent’s job. I did not feel I was superintendent material, but a need had arisen and my pastor asked me to do it. I hesitantly agreed, and was able to fill that position for about two years before passing it on to a younger person. The Lord gave me the grace to step into the gap and do the work that needed to be done. You may think, “Oh, I can’t do that!” at the thought of being a Sunday school teacher or an usher, but with God’s help, you can. Do not be afraid to help out in your church, even though you might not feel qualified for the position. It will certainly make your pastor’s job easier, and the Lord will truly bless every effort that you make for Him.