Doing the Best Anyway

Luke 19: ¹¹ While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. ¹² He said: ‘A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. “Put this money to work,” he said, “until I come back.”

¹⁴ ‘But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king.”

¹⁵ ‘He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

¹⁶ ‘The first one came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned ten more.”

¹⁷ ‘“Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”

¹⁸ ‘The second came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned five more.”

¹⁹ ‘His master answered, “You take charge of five cities.”

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After seeing belligerent outbursts, many people moved away from this particular person. I felt stuck as those who recognized the behavior early, moved on quickly and I felt I had nowhere to go. Each day I had to pray “LORD give me the strength to work for this person.” After a long while, the person called me in their office. “You’ve been promoted, now get outta here” they said gruffly.

• There have been times when I wondered if the person in control was worth serving.
• There have been times when I questioned the person in control versus focusing in on what I was supposed to be doing.
• There have been times when I endured the person in control and it paid off.

JESUS states the behavior of people through a parable regarding the prophecy of the kingdom of GOD. Since they had a misconception of what would take place, JESUS spoke first about how they hated the ruler and how he was made king. Then JESUS spoke about faithful servants who could care less about who their boss or circumstance was, they would do their job well anyway.

• GOD wants me to be faithful as I can to HIM.
• GOD wants me to be strong enough to keep HIS commands even when it is not comfortable for me.
• GOD wants me to be HIS servant even when things are not going my way.

Rewarding the faithful is what GOD does best. But sometimes it seems like the rewards take a long time to arrive at my doorstep. GOD wants me to continue on with the journey in spite of the circumstances. HE guides me in my faith.

• Are you going through something?
• Do you feel like blaming GOD?
• Will you serve GOD anyway through your difficult circumstance?