Sitting in the car with my husband after picking him up from the station

I listened to how his day had gone

He’d just spent his second day volunteering at the Hillsong conference in Sydney

Beaming, he told me story after story of all the amazing people he’d met

While listening, I thought

This is what it’s all about

With his big V on his t-shirt, he was having a blast

Serving starts with V

SERVING STARTS WITH V

I know what you’re thinking

Volunteering

That’s how serving starts

Volunteer, that word starts with V

But I think it goes much deeper than that

Victory

That’s what serving starts with

V for Victory

You see, when you’ve been left crushed and disappointed

And you’ve been burned from taking risks and stepping out

It can be hard for you to take another step

To put yourself ‘out there’ again

Fear of failure can stop you from wanting to serve ever again

 

Matthew 25 is the parable of the talents

The first two servants stepped out and doubled what the master gave them

The master congratulated each of them because they over-came the fear of failing

 “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

But the third servant was afraid, and he buried his talent in the ground

The master wasn’t happy with him

“You wicked and lazy servant.”

Fear ruled over his talents

While my husband was serving

A young girl came up to him and gave him a hand-written note

She told him it was from her friend, but she was too shy to give it to him

My husband was a little taken aback and decided to read it later

When he got home, we opened the letter together

It was a prayer

A prayer to help open his eyes and know that God is right there with him

This young girl stepped out

And pushed through the fear of rejection

Through the fear of failure

And

Served

And used her talent of encouragement

And touched my husband’s heart in a place that had been left wounded

It was as though God was saying to my husband

‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Serving starts with V

And I witnessed first-hand this week, that no matter how many times you’ve failed

If you keep stepping out and pushing through

God will eventually give you the Victory

 

Wendy xo