My husband, Kam, and I have been blessed with great friends over the years. This past year a friend called to tell me that she and her husband wanted to bless us with an automatic garage door opener. Although we bought our house new, it did not come with a garage door opener. They wanted it to be a surprise for Kam and they wanted to take care of the details.
We picked a night that Kam was scheduled to speak and the boys and I tagged along. We often go with him, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary to make it a family affair. While we were gone, a man came over and installed our new garage door opener and the family hid out waiting for us to come home.
Of course, on this night, it felt like everyone possible stopped to talk to us on our way out of church. As we pulled into the drive, our friends hit the button and angelic lights shined down from heaven (or maybe that was just the automatic light) and the garage door magically opened. Kam’s face looked like he was watching Houdini perform. As our friends walked across the street to our house, they told Kam their plan.
God has taught me so many things from this not-so random act of kindness. Of the crazy number of people in our social media world, the people that truly knew how to bless us were the ones that daily live life with us. They were like that perfect waiter in a restaurant that fills your needs and wants before you even know you need or want whatever it is. Wow! In order to do this kind of serving, clearly our eyes cannot be constantly fixed on our own lives. How could they possibly know that our lives would be better with an automatic garage door opener if they had only been focused on their own never ending list of needs and wants?
Jesus showed us the perfect example of serving in the Bible. He lived life with the disciples and knew their every need. He even knew that they would betray Him, and yet he served. Jesus did not serve His disciples based on the condition of their heart. He simply served. The night before Jesus was crucified He was not out preaching to 5,000. He was not out feeding 5,000. He was not even out healing the sick. The night before the crucifixion, Jesus was serving. He was washing the feet of His disciples. The Bible says in John 13:2 that Jesus knew Judas had it in his heart to betray Him, but that did not stop Him from serving his soon to be betrayer.
What an example filled with love! There was no other motivation, just love! A garage door open may not seem amazing. Honestly, in comparison to the works Jesus did in the New Testament, washing feet does not seem like front page news either. The heart behind the act of washing the feet of men that would not even prove to be worthy is what catches my attention.
To give the final piece of the story of the automatic garage door opener, our friends told the owner of the company what they were up to, and he upgraded the opener and donated it for free! Because that is how God operates!