A few weeks ago I left my house for work and passed a discarded kid’s basketball hoop on the side of the road. You can see a picture of it above. It was in great shape except for the fact that it was missing its hoop and a little dirty. It was in front of a nice house, and the owners had put it on the curb to be picked up by the garbage truck. I got it before they did and I took it home for my little girls to enjoy.
For the people in the nice house, this basketball hoop was a left-over, useless thing that belonged in the trash. For my girls it was a fun new toy.
This made me think about what things I consider useless that might actually bless someone else. And I remembered how, a month ago, I had a surprising experience:
The healing ministry at my church was having a weekend retreat about an hour away from here. I had asked about 12 different volunteers if they could lead worship for the retreat, and all of them had said no. I finally just told the healing ministry team that I would just record myself leading 4 short sets of worship songs, give it to them on a CD, and they could play it through the sound system at the retreat center. This was not an ideal solution but it was our only option.
So one afternoon I quickly recorded myself leading these 4 sets and burned a CD for them. It didn’t sound very good but it was the best I could do in a short amount of time. I gave them the CD, apologizing that I couldn’t find them a real-life worship leader, and off they went for their retreat.
I was surprised at how many people came up to me after that retreat and told me how much the worship at the retreat had blessed them. They said it was just the right fit. They said it didn’t feel artificial at all. They said it sounded wonderful. I was shocked. Were they really talking about my little thrown-together recording? Yes they were.
If God has placed you in a worship leading role, whether it’s paid, volunteer, up-front,
behind the scenes, regular, or seldom, let me encourage you to never consider the gifts God has given you as useless. You never know how God will use you to bless people. Look for places to serve, look for ways to give of yourself, and don’t be afraid to offer what you have. What’s the worst thing that can happen?
Worthily Magnify 