This past Sunday we were at a church in IL that we have been filling in at. We were all waiting in the Lord's presence during worship. It was awesome because the presence of the Lord was so strong. The old story about the cow, chicken and the pig kept coming to my mind. I was like "what is wrong with me? why can't I concentrate?" Finally I allowed myself to think through the story and God began to really minister to me.
In the story the chicken, cow and pig were sitting around talking about how much they loved the farmer and decided to do something to show Him theira appreciation. The cow came up with the idea to make him his favorite breakfast. The chicken loved the idea so they started to make plans. The pig was quiet. Finally the chicken looked at the pig and said "what is wrong with you? Don't you love the farmer? Don't you want to make him happy? The pig slowly said "well, yes I love the farmer and i want to make him happy but you don't realize..... for you to make the farmer breakfast doesn't cost you much, just some milk and eggs but for me to make the farmer breakfast costs me everything."
So at that time I realized God was reminding me that I was not like the people sitting in the congregation... for me to obey God costs everything. He has truly called us to be living sacrifices to Him.
24 people have read your post as of this date. I hope they took away what I did. Ministry and living life as a minister does cost. Sometimes I complain. After reading your post, I think I understand a little better. Thank you for sharing.