I recently asked my Facebook friends to respond to the
question, “What is the best thing you have ever done with your life?” Only 5 people responded, which surprised me.
Do people not think about their lives and what they have done? I asked the question because I have been
pondering a statement made by Mother Teresa: “You can do no great thing, only
small things with great love.” On a
recent trip to Kenya, I had the opportunity to do many small things in order to
show love to Kenyans, and the trip made me start thinking about the “best”
moments of my life. For me, they really
are the moments where I was simply a vessel for God’s Spirit to show love to
others.
The first moment that came to mind was simply sitting on the
floor across from a beautiful young Tajik woman and talking to her about Jesus,
sharing my story with her and listening to hers. It was no great thing to do
this – but it was a moment where Christ was living in and through me (I call
these ‘sanctified’ moments). Within a year this young lady was calling Jesus
her Savior and Lord, and all I did was eat lunch with her and tell her about
Him. No great thing. In my last blog I talked about sharing with Martha, the
elderly lady in Alabama, that God loves her and is with her. No great thing.
Last year for my mom’s 83rd birthday I bought her
something she always wanted but which I had vowed I would never buy – a gazing
ball for her garden. Yes, I have a very
strong aversion to lawn ornaments, especially gazing balls! But, the Lord spoke
to my heart and reminded me that it’s not about me, and that this would be a
tangible way to show my mom how much I really loved her. Hence, I bought her
the biggest bright red gazing ball I could find. Mom loved it and put it in her flower
bed. Hopefully every time she looked at
it she remembered how much I loved her. I lost my mom on April 15th,
and I am so thankful I listened to the prompting of the Spirit and bought her
what she wanted before she passed away. No
great thing.
In Kenya I had the chance to hold a couple of sick little girls
at different times for a short amount of time – all they wanted was to be held,
and perhaps, too, they were longing to be loved, to know that someone cared. I
should mention that one had a damaged eye and the other peed all over my leg
and had a lot of snot running down her face (all who know me know that I am
pretty squeamish when it comes to such things), but I knew they just needed
some comfort and compassion, and so I held them. As I held
them and prayed over them, I began to cry – and it seemed as though Jesus was
weeping through me – for them, for Africa, for all those living in poverty, for
all those suffering from treatable illnesses, for all those who will go to bed
hungry tonight, for all the orphans without mother or father to hold them and
love them. No great thing.
So, the best moments for me – the “great” things – really
have been small things done with great love – and not even my love, but Christ’s
love through me. So, perhaps the only way to be truly great is to become
nothing – to become an empty vessel for the Holy Spirit to fill and to pour
out. Is this not what we were meant to be? Made in God’s image? Isn’t that the
point of our redemption – to be like Christ and to be sanctified, allowing His
Presence to live in and through us?
Truly, the moments when God shows up and lives through me are the only
holy moments of my life. How I hope and pray for more of them!
How different this view is from the world’s! When asked “What is the best thing you have
ever done with your life?” I am sure
many would have expected me to say “Earned my PhD,” or “Received tenure,” or “Published
scientific papers,” or “Traveled abroad,” or any number of other “accomplishments.” But really, those things pale into
insignificance in comparison to those moments when Jesus lives through me. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the
branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.” I am
learning that the only way to be great, to do anything of consequence, is to
simply abide in Him moment-to-moment, becoming nothing so that He is All. All of my own trying or striving to be great,
to make a name for myself, means nothing and will not bear fruit that lasts.
May I live my life in reckless abandonment to the One Who
Became Nothing (Phil. 2:7) so that He may live in me and love others greatly
through me. Truly His Presence living in us is the only way to holiness.
“You can do no great
thing, only small things with great love.”
