Morning Drive

Every morning I spend my ride to work listening to Christian radio.  Starting my day with songs of worship helps me to get started in the right frame of mind!  Many mornings I hear a song that I just have to know who the title and artist is performing the song.  Maybe I should add here that music trivia would not be my speciality, so I don’t always recognize music.  I stop to check who the artist is and the song title so I can share it with my husband, The Music Man, later to add to his collection. Occasionally, I am so touched by a song that I write about it.  Recently, this happened while listening to the song, “Do Something” by Matthew West.  The chaos in our country and world today seems out of control and hard to understand.  As I try to figure out how our country came to this point where we don’t seem to really care about each other, and everyone wants someone else or the government to take care of everyone, I hear this song which reminds of what God’s plan really is for Christian here on earth.

Angry at God

The song begins with a man angry at God for allowing our world to become the way it is and not doing something about it.  He questions God on what he is doing in the world.

I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now, thought
How’d we ever get so far down, and
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”

Unexpectedly, God answers with, “He said, “I did, yeah, I created you”.  Hearing this line shocked me at first because I should have known that is what God would say but it was unexpected for me to even hear.  But God did make us to serve others.  Jesus is our role model and Matthew 20:28 reads, “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  He gave his life, so what should Christians be giving to God’s world?

Let Someone Else Do The Work

The second line of the song is a typical reaction to any event in our lives or around us.  Many of us just say someone else will do it and become apathetic to the needs of others and how we can truly serve.

I’m so tired of talking about
How we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something

I know that I can turn from such events, but this song is just one reminder that God made me to serve others not for my glory or for others to see, but just to serve and Glorify God as he called me to serve. The ending of the second line echoes this belief.

Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire and
I wanna be the one who stands up and says
“I’m gonna do something

We all as Christian have to see Christ as our role model and just “Do Something”.  Sometimes I get stuck in what should I be doing, but am reminded of the verse in 1 Peter 4:10, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” This verse reminds me to focus on the gifts God has given me to go forth and “Do Something”.

Using Our Gifts

The chorus of the song brings some closure to any Christian still stuck in the waiting game of letting others take care of what God has called each of us to do.

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something, yes it is, come on
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

As you bow on your knees in prayer today, remember to ask the Lord who gave his Son to serve us what gifts do I have that I should be carrying forth into the world to “Do Something”.   God’s word has always taught us that it is better to give than to receive and Acts 20:35 reads, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  We are to work hard to help the weak and give to those who are in need.  If Christians stop and remember these words and turn to the gifts God has provided, he will be faithful and bless our work for his Glory and not ours.

Closing Verse: Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ …”

Challenge: Today I pray that each of us will find the gifts from God and use them as we are called to serve this world that is in need of knowing our Father.