“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, NIV 1984).

I caught an Uber early this morning to fly home after spending the weekend at our CMDA Board of Trustees meeting. We had completed good work with important decisions that would affect thousands of healthcare professionals and those they served, both in the U.S. and around the world. My Uber driver got to talking. He had been a warehouse manager until 2017 when his son was killed by street violence, an unsolved homicide. He told me his life was changed and now, with Uber as his full-time job, he spends much of his day serving God by helping those on the street: clothes and food for the homeless, speeches at rallies against street violence, support for prostitutes and the sexually trafficked. His entire life had become a service to God and those whom God loves. Few will ever know his name. I sat in that early morning backseat and could not help but weigh my service to Christ against his.

Of course, it’s never best to compare my service to God against another’s. God doesn’t see things the same way we do, calculating outcomes to decide if our work is good enough. God, instead, has orchestrated a symphony and assigned a note to each of us. Crowded between other notes, we have no idea how the symphony should sound. We only know that the melody is Jesus and our note is important. When God measures our performance, He doesn’t look at any note itself, any task itself, as being more important than any other. His evaluation of my performance comes not from the type of note He gives me, but comes instead with these questions:

Did he play My note rather than his?
Did he pour himself into the playing?
Did he play till it hurt?
Did he play it with love?
Did he play it with joy?
Did he trust the Conductor to put all notes together to bring forth the glory of the song?

If I choose to weigh my mission against that of my Uber driver, these are the comparative questions I need to ask myself. I know my driver could answer them well.

Dear Father,
Please bless this driver as he pours himself out for You and those You love. Help me to have the same heart, energy and boldness.
Amen