brighten the corner where you are

Do you seek great things for yourself?
Seek them not.

Jeremiah 45:5

Jeremiah’s sidekick, Baruch, is plotting his next move.

He’s stood faithfully beside Judah’s wildly unsuccessful prophet, but now he’s tiring of unpopular ministry. Compounding his misery, he’s got a brother playing for the other side, faring well among the ruling class. That brother, also a scribe, hitched his wagon to a star, but Baruch, to a whipping post.

It’s not hard to imagine Baruch eyeballing the other side of the fence to contemplate a change. An upgrade, perhaps. Maybe his brother will give him a palace gig.

So God said,

“What’s bothering you, Baruch? Are you tired of living righteous in an unrighteous world? Are you envious of the other side? Don’t be. The other side is marked for destruction. Seek Me, not worldly greatness. I am enough. Stay faithful and you will live.”

Baruch was the scribal secretary to the saddest and loneliest man in Judah. His boss was a pariah prophet, a truth-teller to a culture of therapeutic deists. Jeremiah refused to play the game so he got himself banned from the temple.

But the Word of God will not be chained!

God told Jeremiah to dictate his entire catalogue of sermons (23 years’ worth!) to get to Jehoiakim. The puppet-king didn’t take too kindly to the prophet’s hot takes. He proceeded to hack the scroll into ribbons and tossed them into the fire.

This was a bridge too far for Jehoiakim. Insurrection! Treason! Sedition! If Jeremiah won’t shut up, he’ll just have to shut him up — permanently — both he and his errand boy.

It was about then Baruch started weighing his options.

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I read about a woman who was planning for ministry among the Chautauqua tribe of Native Americans. This was her surrender, the ache in her soul, her single-minded passion.

Ina Mae Ogdon never realized her dream because she was called back home to nurse her ailing father. Did she resent her father? Even worse, did she resent God?

Some years later Ina Mae, already a prolific writer of hymns and poems, looked back on that unexpected detour in the words of a song, “Brighten The Corner Where You Are.” It’s clear she made peace with the path God chose for her.

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Could you be content in being a foot instead of a hand? Would you submit to being a footnote instead of a headline? Might you light a candle in a closet when you would prefer a spot on the dais?

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Who’s to say greatness is measured by whether or not you are a published author? Are you a failure if your church can’t break fifty…or a hundred? Are you a success if you boast 100,000 followers on social media? Or if your home is a magazine ad?

Hear me out … What if greatness is measured in eternity by “humble and sacrificial servanthood, and not in any pursuit promising a rise to power, position, or prestige…”? (Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1, 206) Could you sign on to that?

Vance Havner said, “Too many of us aren’t big enough to be little enough to be used of God.”

Recently, before I met with God, I read aloud from the prayer book, “Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1” That day’s entry struck oil in the tender soil of my heart:

At a pastor’s retreat one of the ministers noticed how a woman joyfully cleaned each of the rooms every day. On the final day of the weeklong retreat he found her in the bathroom and made a point to ask her the question he’d been wanting to ask since the second morning.

There she was, on her knees, scrubbing the bathroom floor, humming a familiar tune.

“How do you do such degrading work so happily?” he asked.

“Its not degrading to me,” she replied with a noticeable brightness. “I just remind myself I don’t have to do this, I get to do this!”

That dear woman sought only one thing in her life: to shine in whatever corner Jesus put her, no questions asked. She turned a bathroom floor into a cathedral of worship.

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Sandy recently volunteered for the children’s ministry at our church. She explained to the director how she felt drawn to the nursery. In her words she said, “I want to whisper ‘Jesus loves you’ to those babies in a way they’ll never forget it.” Instead, she was assigned a K-2nd grade class.

I met her after the service and was greeted with her warm smile. That’s my Sandy. Her heart is an abiding ‘amen’ to Jesus.

While she’d prefer holding newborns (since she’ll never hold her own grandchild), she brightened her corner. She didn’t fuss or complain. She just shined where Jesus needed her.

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All that matters in the end is,

“Were you faithful?”

“Did you love people or use people?”

“Did you crave the spotlight or did you make Jesus big?”

“Did you brighten your corner?”

I’m fairly certain Baruch got the smallest chapter in Jeremiah because “seeking great things for yourself” is the petty desire of small people.

Don’t live for this world’s applause. Brennan Manning said, “Do the Truth quietly without display.”

The word to Baruch was, “A great shaking is coming and those who are living on flow’ry beds of ease now will die in their luxury. But if you can praise me from your corner I will bless you with abundant life, far greater than you can possibly imagine.”

We don’t really know what happened to Baruch. I’d like to think he chose life. I choose that too. If you’re reading this, I pray you will also.

May we brighten the corner where we are until the great and glorious day when Christ says, “It’s time to move. I have prepared a new place for you. Come and see.” It’ll be worth every corner, detour, sideline, back seat, bathroom floor, hidden place, and anonymous season we’ve ever known.

Selah, beloved.

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