What About Me?

"What about me?" Ever hear this statement directly or indirectly in the church? What about in a worship service? In a worship team? It happens more than we think or would like to. It's easy. We invest our hard work and time into what we do. From long ago, we establish values, priorities and systems. We have things the way we like it. We have our favorites. We have our special spots and places. Then someone comes in and changes everything. What we once treasured is now in disarray. The items that we own and worked so hard for are now left to tarnish. So we think.

I often reflect on how so many things changed in my life. It seems like rugs were pulled out from underneath me and I had to learn a whole new game all over again. Comfortable and soft things used to be. Why all this change now? I mean, what about me??? We are only human to ask such questions. But do we find or more importantly, take to heart, the answers that can soothe our souls?

When Jesus came to Israel, the people were seeking for a King. Like, this wasn't new. They dreamed of the day when God would deliver them from Roman exile. They envisioned a royal, radiant and triumphant king to appear with great stature and prestige. Daily, the people worked, suffered and longed for the day of the King. But what did they get? A baby, born in a stall with dirty animals by a carpenter family with little-to-no money, no home and no appearance of any kingship. Let's just say that the Israel's world was rocked. Surely, the people wondered and said: "What about our deliverance? Who's going to save us? What about me!?" Little did they know,  the Lord came to save them, but not in the way they expected nor predicted.

On this side of heaven, our expectations are viewed in earthly terms. We fail, we fall, we miss the big picture that God is painting. In our churches, homes and jobs, it's easy to get comfortable and hold on to our treasured spaces. However, these treasuries turn into something else - idolatry. We may not admit it, but we know it's there, whether we like it or not.

What's another unexpected picture? Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. He was angered by the selling of offerings and indulgences in the church. Do we not still have this problem today? In our churches and homes, what do the precious tables look like? What treasuries are they displaying? What about my ______ or _______? "What about me?"

In our churches and in our ministries may give all up to Him. It is the Lord's church, not ours. All belongs to Him. If we are truly allowing God to direct are hearts and lives, then our preferences and what we treasure really do not matter. Even as we claim to do the "Lord's work," we can easily be deceived and not even realize it. When we unite ourselves with the Lord, we are in one Spirit, also one with each other in Christ. Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

It is the Holy Spirit who wants to come in and change the things that we worked so hard for. What we have is really given by God - he owns it all. He has his purposes, but God is far more interested in your heart rather than what you posses. He is more in love with who you are, rather than what you have (or would like to have). Truly, the Scripture is right when He says, where your treasure is your heart will be also (Mt. 6:21). Do you treasure Him? Do you treasure/trust him enough to have God overturn the tables in your life? Are you willing to let go? Are you really able to say, right where you are right now, "It's not about me Lord, it's about You?"  Let's take it a step further and say to Him, "Lord I belong to you, you do what you will and I will follow."