Don't Let Helping Bring You Down

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."   ... Colossians 3:23, 24

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While tooling around Blogland for 8 years, I've watched too many Christian bloggers start blogging with a beautiful, anointed bang! Then fade away to a sad, depressed fizzle. And not just their blogging sank into a ghost town, but their very souls.

Oh dear.

All they longed to do was help people! And at first, it encouraged them to lift up a few from the deep mire of real life, to help others stand on solid ground, to find God and to learn to care for their families.

But then these helpers took their eyes off the helped, the changed, and began staring at the thousands of the poor left, people who will surely die in their poverty. And these workers' inadequacies became larger than their God, causing them to question Him, even, and His perfection.

Then they became angry at all the rest of us Christians who--because we don't care in the ways they do--they accused us of not caring at all (and did not recognize that as pride).

And in this unforgiving, upset spirit they took their eyes off Jesus, the Great Encourager, and got bogged down in others' misery, so burdened that they could no longer lift themselves up, let alone the dying.

They'd fought poverty instead of sin and the father of lies, nursed unforgiveness toward God for allowing such depressing lack and they fought in their own strength, which is only weakness apart from God. 

What God orders, He pays for. What He asks us to do, He sends along the abilities to do it.

Yet they sank into despair because they could not aid the entire world and soon ended up helping no one, thus perpetuating more guilt and more depressing blog posts centering upon their own grief and the hopelessness for this sick, ailing world. 

And then silence. Just silence. 

But here is what I know...

The only person God ever asked to save the whole world was Jesus. Only Jesus could handle that burden, only He could actually save us all.

Our ministry to Jesus, Himself, must come first. Our love for Him must remain greater than our love for others and especially larger than our love for any ministry or gifts from God.

And all the aid we give others should be spillover from Jesus' ministry to us, first. Only His well never dries up and from that eternal spring of living water also comes the joy we need to strengthen us to help others. The encouragement to keep going and hope when--to non-believers--things appear hopeless.

Jesus must always remain the main thing. But when that priority shifts, even over to helping others--everything crumbles to pieces. And must someday be rebuilt--if it can.



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 “All fruitfullness flows from intimacy with Him!”   ... Heidi Baker

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"... for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."   ... Philippians 2:13


"... for the joy of the Lord is my strength..."   ... Nehemiah 8:10

"Seek the Lord while He may be found..."   ... Isaiah 55:6


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