Fellowship, or friendship, with God will always include service. It doesn’t have to be back-braking, joint-aching work. In fact, it may not feel like work at all!

Recently, a friend said to me, “You smell great! What are you wearing?” I told her the name of the scent and said, “It’s funny, I thought it smelled great when I put it on, but I don’t smell it at all now.” She explained that, if I don’t notice the scent of the perfume I’m wearing, that means it is the right scent for me. Likewise, when we are working at a task that is right for us, we don’t feel so worked-up about it, even if it includes hard labor. In fact, it might even be a stress reliever because it fits us so comfortably. Whatever our task, we are to be passionate about it by serving the Lord enthusiastically (see Romans 12:11 and 1 Corinthians 15:58).

In her book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, Joanna Weaver tells the story of a man who has been given the task of taking a stone to the top of a mountain. The man was whistling happily as he traveled along, pushing his cart with the stone inside. Another man noticed him as he traveled up the mountain and asked if he might add his stone to the cart - since he was already going that way. The first man agreed and off he went whistling happily along as he traveled up the mountain. A third man noticed him as he traveled along and asked if he might also add his stone to the cart - since he was already going that way. The first man agreed and off he went whistling happily along as he traveled up the mountain. This happened to the man several more times as he made his journey. Each time the cart became heavier and more difficult to push. The man was no longer whistling as he traveled; he was toiling to get the heavy load to the top. Eventually, the man ran out of energy and stopped to pray. He said, “Lord, I can’t do this! Why did you give me such a hard task?” God replied, “I only gave you the first stone, you took it upon yourself to add the rest.”

God’s Word tells us that He created us with specific tasks in mind (see Romans 2:10). If you find that you are having trouble completing your tasks, perhaps you should check your cart to see if there are some stones that don’t belong. Often, our very best efforts result in failure because we have tried to accomplish something God never intended for us to do.

Keeping it real,