In reading about the very full life of President Jimmy Carter who died this week at the age of 100 I was reminded of an important irony. We so often in our desire to serve presume we know how to do so. The beautiful enigma of our relationship with God is living the mystery of His plan for us instead of ours.

A man of deep faith, one of President Carter’s major motivations to run for president was to bring morality and ethics to the office of presidency following the scandal of Watergate. Interestingly, rather than being known for success in this area President Carter’s term in office was rife with major international and domestic issues. These situations drew national and international attention not to his God-centered model of living, but rather, double digit inflation, high oil prices, escalated Cold War tensions, and hostages in Iran were in the daily headlines.  He did serve his country in a godly manner, and yet, that is not his legacy nor probably did he have the ability to prioritize that message during his term of office.  To the contrary, his greatest service occurred in his decades of life after his presidency as a global humanitarian, those being years filled with immeasurable service to mankind.

Christopher Reeve during his younger years was most well known for his portrayal of Superman. He was virile, and being associated with Superman’s super powers, was seen as a model of physical strength. I am not aware that serving others was the highest priority on his agenda. Yet after his devastating accident which rendered him a quadriplegic for the remainder of his life, not only Christopher, but we all were changed.

Christopher’s wife Dana’s service as his caregiver, her establishment of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation raising millions of dollars for spinal injury research and support to help others, his family’s spiritual growth in their ability to sacrificially love, all became examples of powerful strength in the face of literally debilitating hardship. No doubt even Christopher Reeve, himself, for the many years after his accident learned another dimension of service and was able to experience life in a way not otherwise possible. The love around him must have been overwhelmingly beautiful to receive. All of these outgrowths of this tragedy were unintended rather than Reeve’s choice, and yet, were undeniably profound service to mankind.

Most of my readers already have a heart to serve which brings us halfway there. Yet life sometimes gets in the way of our better selves, or we’re a little lazy, or we need reminders. We may think we know our gifts or talents. Wherever we are on that continuum, which fluctuates daily, even when we set out to serve in the ways we plan, we are reminded by President Carter and Christopher Reeve that our input is important but should not be our guide. Rather, having the motivation to serve is just the first step, for sometimes we serve without awareness, for God’s got this.

Our Creator has formed us to love and serve others and in so doing we love and serve Him. As we love others we will serve them. It is the natural outgrowth of love. We are to have hearts prepared to receive His Will in how that is to be done. That requires checking our ego and pride and prioritizing our relationship with God.  If we do so, He will mold our hearts more purely to love Him and in so doing love others.

We are placed in certain times and environments that will facilitate the expression of the gifts we have received and those that will be cultivated throughout our lives. None of them will be wasted for He knows the plan even if for us it’s nothing like what we thought it would be. This week’s perfectly timed Daily Davar story of Joseph beautifully illustrates this point – who would think that Joseph’s unplanned service as leader of Egypt would foreshadow Yeshua and save the remnant of Israel? Only God who knows all.

Even if not understanding at the time, we may look back, perhaps decades later, and get a glimpse of how we served God more deeply than we ever could have intended by our own will. Our Creator will show us how to serve even when sometimes we don’t even know we are doing it. He will use those around us to expand the impact of our service, and along the way will grow us in our walk with Him as we realize the mystery, the enigma, is part of the deepest beauty of His relationship with us.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane