Convicted By My Own Words

By: Our Daily Bread

Read: 1 Chronicles 28:1-10

I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord. —1 Chronicles 28:2

I poured my heart into worship ministries at church because I love helping people to connect Sunday worship with personal, daily worship. I served on committees and as a chaplain for choir and orchestra; I wrote weekly prayers for the worship folder and daily prayer prompters for each day’s Bible reading; I worked with our worship pastor to plan services. Then he resigned.

When the search committee was formed to find his replacement, I was not asked to be on it, and I let it be known that I felt used and unappreciated. I tried to argue myself out of my bad attitude, but with little success. Then, while working on the next week’s worship folder, I was stopped in my tracks by words I had written a year earlier. As I typed the prayer prompter to go with 1 Chronicles 25-29, which includes the account of David’s unfulfilled desire to build the temple, my own words convicted me: “Pray that we will not be resentful when God gives to someone else the task we were hoping to do.”

I immediately called the chairman of the search committee to confess my bad attitude and to promise that I would support him in the difficult task ahead. And I continue to do that because the work belongs to God, not to me!  —JAL

Lord, help us to appreciate
The work that others do,
The service given from their hearts,
Their sacrifice for You. —Sper

Be faithful—and leave the results to God.