Content to Serve

Have you ever read a Bible verse many times and one day it just jumps out at you? This just happened to me.

Every year, my church reads through the Bible together over the course of a year. So I know that I have read this verse at least four or five times by now, but it just struck me differently today.

Numbers 16:9-10 “Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them? Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?”

Korah was rebelling against Moses because he felt that all the people of Israel had been set apart by the Lord and Moses was acting as though he was greater than the rest of them.

As a Levite, Korah was one of the chosen to serve in the tabernacle and minister to the people. Even though they were considered to be the closest to God, Korah wasn’t satisfied with this- he wanted to be a leader as well.

Have you ever had this attitude? I know I have. We sing in the choir but get angry or jealous when we aren’t chosen for the solo.

We play a musical instrument but are irritated when we’re never asked to be on the worship team.

We are excellent at teaching Bible studies but are never asked to preach from the pulpit.

Or we do something that we think is special but we never get recognition for it.

Have you ever thought that maybe God knows a little something that you don’t?

Maybe you would love to be on the worship team but you didn’t think about all the early mornings or extra days of practice that they have to commit to.

Maybe you really want to preach but you aren’t that committed to fasting, praying, and studying to getting a word from the Lord.

Maybe the pastor really wants to give you more responsibilities but he knows you’ll get a big ego about it and asks somebody who’s more humble instead.

I am talking to myself too, believe me! I have been jealous, angry, and bitter over many things that I thought I wanted to do only to realize that somebody else was far more qualified.

So what should we do? I believe we should do what we love, find someway to serve God with it, and our gifts and abilities will make room for themselves.

Your role/ministry may not be what you thought, but in the end it’s all to the glory of God. So let us be content to serve God and the church to the best of our abilities and be grateful for the opportunity.