Encroachments

An overgrown hedge sprawls over the sidewalk of a nearby house. When my mother-in-law, Doris, was still alive, on warm days I’d help her into her wheelchair and push her around the block to see the flowers. But I couldn’t push her down that narrow hedge-covered stretch. I’d have to dip down into the street one driveway before, then push her back up one driveway later. Alas, that rental house and yard simply didn’t get the care they should.

The word “encroachment” best describes the situation. And what a lesson its meaning packs! To encroach means “to enter by gradual steps or by stealth into the possessions or rights of another; to advance beyond desirable or normal limits.”

Recently we remembered what would have been Doris’s 93^rd birthday. She died at 89 of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s not what she would have chosen for her exit to Heaven. If anything, she avoided inconveniencing people, and to become mentally and physically helpless was alien to how she'd lived the rest of her life.

I thought of that the other night when we had dinner guests. After we ate and I was removing dishes from the table, the mom jumped up to help with washing and drying them. I thought how Doris did the same in her better years.It was just the way she was: always serving. I was reminded of other ways she served when someone recently shared an old photograph of Doris in the children’s Sunday school class she taught. Doris really "owned" that responsibility. She painted the little classroom pale pink (her favorite color) and took care to set up a "worship corner" with a little vase of flowers. In such little ways she put others first.

Those memories started me thinking of how a person learns to be a “server” rather than a “taker” (or, in the hedge analogy, “an encroachment”). I  think the answer resides in the classic passage about God’s discipline in Hebrews 12. It talks about how parents discipline their children as part of character development. (Yes, there was a reason I insisted our kids make their beds, help with dishes, take out the garbage, and respect authority!) But, the writer continues, “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

God’s “pruning” may involve hardship or intimidating challenges. He may use a sermon, article, or personal Bible study to reveal behaviors or attitudes that have “encroached” on our lives. He may also use people whose godly examples inspire us and cause us to reflect, “Am I living to please God or myself?”

That's why I think of Doris and her humble service when I walk by that hedge and get my legs scratched. Left unpruned so long, it probably just needs pulled out--a huge, messy task. Similarly, God's "pruning" (which often includes "serving" assignments) keeps my spirit from growing wild. The last thing I want is for someone to reject the Lord Jesus on the basis of negatives they see in me.