Bella’s Blessing

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:23-24; 2 Timothy 2:15

“Time to go home, Bella. I’m afraid nobody’s showing up,” Mom said gently.

Bella looked at the stacks of secondhand clothing—donated by Bella’s homeschool group and her church—covering each table in the church activity room. Bella and her family had sorted through each piece to be sure they were offering quality clothes to families in the community. She had dreamed of holding this clothing giveaway ever since her pastor had challenged their church to serve others.

“Jesus has blessed us to be a blessing,” the pastor had said that Sunday. “How will you be a blessing?”

So, Bella organized the clothing outreach to serve needy people in their area.

“I wonder how much of this will be left at the end of the day?” Bella’s sister Alexis asked that morning while she folded T-shirts during setup for the event.

“I wonder if anything will be left!” Bella replied.

But now, an hour after the giveaway had officially ended, Bella stared forlornly at the mounds of clothes on the tables.

“Well.” Alexis sighed. “Everything’s left.” She grabbed a bag and began stuffing skirts into it.

“Mom,” Bella sniffled, “nobody came. Not one person! I tried to help others. But it didn’t do any good!”

Mom pulled Bella close. “You did try, honey. But you couldn’t control the outcome. You can only control what you do to obey the Lord.”

“But if it turned out so badly, was this still obedience?” Bella asked.

“Of course it was. The Lord tells us the work we do for Him doesn’t go to waste. You did this to help others, sure, but didn’t you also do this because you love Jesus?”

“Yes,” said Bella. “I wanted to serve and honor Him.”

Mom nodded. “You love Him because He did the work of dying for your sins on the cross to bring you into a relationship with God. Now, when you work for the Lord with all your heart, He’s the one in control of how it turns out, not you. All you need to do is serve and obey Him.” Mom looked around the activity room. “Why don’t we bag up these clothes and ask the rescue mission if they could use them?”

“Yeah!” Bella exclaimed. “Maybe God has someone else in mind He wants us to help.”

-Allison Wilson Lee

How About You?

Have you ever tried something you believed God had given you to do, but it seemed to fail? Were you judging yourself by the Lord’s standards, or by the world’s? When we serve Jesus and work with all our hearts at what He gives us to do, He will use our efforts for good—but it might not be in the way we expect. Keep serving, and trust Him to use your work in the way He knows is best. He will reward your faithfulness.

Today’s Key Verse:
1 Corinthians 15:58 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Work for the Lord