HSBC Coffeebreak Devotional

"Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Joanna, wife of Cuza....these women were helping to support them out of their own means."
Luke 8:1,3 NIV

I was scheduled to teach women's Sunday school the following week. I had spent several hours preparing my lesson on Joanna...a woman who served Jesus because she was grateful to Him for healing her. I intended to draw out many points from her life, but I was focusing on this main one: If we are aware of, and truly grateful for, the healing that Christ has done in our lives, we will then desire to serve the lost in whatever way we can so that they too can have the powerful healing of Christ in their lives.

This point lingered with me as I went about my day to day life. I wondered how I could apply it in my own life. In what way was Christ asking me to serve the lost? Enter Tony. He moved to Helena to work for my husband's company the Monday before I taught Sunday school. My husband offered to let him stay in our home until he found a place to live. Now, I usually love houseguests, but this particular week was a stressful one for me. I had a lot to do - and extra laundry and food and a man sleeping in our playroom wasn't on my agenda.

On Wednesday, during naptime, I was reviewing my lesson. I went to the refrigerator to get a glass of cold milk - and we were out. My first thought was, "Argh...Tony drank the last of the milk. When is he going to find a place?" I shut the door, grabbed a glass of water and returned to my lesson on Joanna. I read Luke 8:1-3. Again, I pondered what that looked like in my life. What little details could I take care of with a grateful heart so that God could work to heal the lost?

I'm guessing you can see the irony here. God placed a "lost" in my home - and while I was busy preparing a lesson on serving with a grateful heart, while I was busy brainstorming how I could help serve others, I got frustrated that our "lost" houseguest had drank the last of the milk. Instead of being grateful that he could stay in the home of believers, instead of being grateful that we had milk to offer him, instead of recognizing that I was running errands that evening anyway, I chose to focus on me...what I lacked because of what I was giving.

To me, that realization was much bigger than an empty milk carton. I think I often shy away from giving all I have - my time, my possessions, my energy - to bring the Good News to the lost. I focus instead on what I might lack as a result of it. I praise God that He used Joanna to show me how to serve with a grateful heart. I praise God that He brought Tony to our home to help me learn about how that should look in my daily life.

Written by
Holly Hauskins