Phil. 2:13 (GWT) “It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him.”

James 1:22 (NIV) “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Phil. 2:7 (GWT) “Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant.”

Several years ago I was in my quiet time with the Lord and all of a sudden I said, “Lord, I know now what I am – I am a handmaiden of the Lord!” It was like a light going off in my head and I saw clearly what I wanted to be. When I finished praying, I decided to do a study on what it means to be a handmaiden and what her duties are. After all, if I was going to make a proclamation like that I had better find out what my job description was going to be! So I prayed: “Lord, help me as I study and show me what You want me to see. I love You and want to do Your divine will.” From that point on, the Lord gave me many points from Scripture that I wrote down in my journal. I knew that it had to be a decision on my part because God gives us a choice in the matter.

Webster’s dictionary defines a handmaiden as a female servant or attendant who accompanies and lends assistance in a useful but “subordinate” manner and she does whatever her Master needs her to do. Webster’s dictionary has a thought provoking definition for the word “servant.” One definition is “a person ardently devoted to another.”

Depending on the translation, there are references throughout the Bible for the words: maidservant, servant, handmaiden, bondwoman and bondman, etc. It really makes no difference as to gender, but only to our submissiveness to God. To say you are either a handmaiden or a servant of Almighty God is in itself an act of humility and submission and God is calling men and women alike to be of service to Him.

There are examples all through Scripture of those who were handmaidens or servants. Some had no choice in the matter such as Hagar from Genesis, but she was a handmaiden by “appointment” and was somewhat “drafted” you might say.

Others such as Elizabeth (Luke 1:6), Anna (Luke 2:36-37), and even Mary (Luke 1:38), the mother of Jesus, were handmaidens by “choice.” That particular type of handmaiden or servant of God are the ones I want to focus upon in this message.

Mary proclaimed to the angel Gabriel that she was indeed the “handmaiden of the Lord” and submitted herself to the Holy Spirit. She was willing to let Him have His way in her life and even though her life was literally turned upside down she went along with God’s plan to bring the promised Messiah into the world. She laid aside all of her own hopes and dreams so God’s plan could prevail.

The apostle Paul was called to be a servant of Jesus Christ and even proclaimed that fact in Scripture himself. In the 16^th chapter of Romans Paul named some of the dynamic men and women of faith who had worked very hard in the ministry and he said in that passage how he greatly appreciated them. One such woman Paul mentioned was evidently so kind to him that she had been “as a mother to him” and the men and women Paul spoke of were vigorous in their work and were an asset to spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. These handmaidens and servants of God showed kindness to everyone, especially to the family of believers. (See an example of this type of kindness in Gal. 6:10.)

Handmaidens and servants use their hands to perform whatever duties that are needed of them to do. Their hands stay busy doing whatever is needed of them to do. We’re told in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” It became plain to me that we must be busy doing the Lord’s work with whatever tasks come our way and we must do them with all of our hearts!

We may not always know what to do in every situation, but John 16:13 says: “. . . He will guide you into all truth.” The Holy Spirit will teach you and let you know what to do in circumstances that you wouldn’t ordinarily know how to handle. Many reading this today may be going through trouble on the job, anxieties with family members, physical problems, problems within the church, or any number of things, but when we call upon the Holy Spirit and ask Him to guide us and help us, He will come to our rescue and will not leave us comfortless. (2 Cor. 1:4)

Another instance where we can be of service to God is that He may prompt us to pray for someone. It will seem that “out of the blue” a person you haven’t thought of in years will come to mind. Has that ever happened to you? At those times we need to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit to pray for that person. It is not the time to ignore the prompting. We may never know what that individual may be going through, but God does.

A handmaiden or servant of the Lord needs to be ready to extend his or her hand to the poor and needy. (Prov. 31:20) I thought about that and saw how that could also mean someone who is “weak or needy spiritually,” as well. We must be ready in an instant to encourage those who are weak. Let us be ready to speak words of encouragement instead of negative ones in those instances. 1 Thess. 4:11 says: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

At times we may be tired and the couch actually feels pretty comfy, but we need to be willing to say, “Okay, Lord, I’ll get up and call that one who is sick or feeling low. I’ll encourage that one who needs a kind word,” or “I’ll give that one a hug that needs to feel love today.” I have found that when I do something like those things, it causes me to have the best feeling in the entire world at that moment. I could almost burst open with joy! I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is so glorified from those acts of kindness that He sends down a ray of sunlight into our very souls!

God is calling all of us to come out of our comfort zones, out of our cozy homes and off of the comfy couches. It’s a call to do whatever you feel Him leading you to do. Many say “no” over and over again when they feel that tug at their hearts and they think someone else can do the job at hand. I can tell you that there are plenty of ministries and jobs in the Kingdom of God to go around, but some are not doing what they’ve been asked to do. Therefore, there are only a few doing a whole lot of work. We all need to be reaching out to someone, somewhere and extending a hand to those in need.

I want to take this opportunity to mention something about my own sweet mother. By the way, she doesn’t have a clue that I’m putting anything in this message about her, and, in fact, she may spank me after she reads this because she has never wanted to be in the limelight. My mother is a true handmaiden of the Lord and has never slacked down for a minute from her duties. My father was a minister and pastored for many years and she worked alongside of him visiting the sick in homes and hospitals, encouraging the spiritually weak, ministering to people who had lost loved ones and doing many, many tasks within the church. I have seen her do some jobs that were not attractive to anyone else, but she picked up the slack and worked tirelessly because she knew things had to be done. Even though my father has passed away, she finds other ways to be of service to others. I have known of her to make meals or bake cakes for many, many families who have lost their loved ones. This is a very meaningful offering of love which takes hours of preparation. The main thing is she continues to “serve others” and at certain times she does these things when she is weak in body herself. I believe she will be greatly rewarded when she gets to heaven for her sacrifice of love and she is a true example of what I consider a handmaiden to be.

Do you see where I’ve gone with this message? I am saying that God has called all of us to do something. He’s calling more handmaidens and more servants of God to step up and get busy for Him. We never get too old or we’re never too young to be working for the Lord and being of service to others. Some of us have many God-given abilities, but are not using them. If you do not know what God wants you to do or where to start, I encourage you to say to Him, “Yes, Lord I will get busy doing something for you and I want to be a blessing, but I do not know where to start. Will you help me?” It’s that simple and I can assure you that He will answer your prayer.

PRAYER:
Dear Father, I pray for every reader of this message today. I pray that each one will be as Jesus was even from a child when He was doing His Father’s work in the temple. Help each of us to follow the example that Jesus Christ set before us when He helped and ministered to others in need. Help us to be Your hands and feet and to have the very mind of Christ in knowing how to do the work which is so desperately needed. Lord, I pray for those so weakened from the battle that they struggle with doing what you have called them to because of the pain in their lives. I pray that they will gain strength as they minister and encourage others. Give each one of us the wisdom, the knowledge and the ability to do the work ahead and to do all for the Glory of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Go forward in FAITH my brothers and sisters!