Devotion

Behind the Scenes
Don’t be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. ---Philippians 2:4

Gwen's two teenage sons had already mowed the lawn and were now washing and detailing her car. She was in the kitchen preparing dinner. The smell of carrots, onions, celery, and garlic wavered through the screen door and enticed the young men to do a super wax job on their mom's car. Just before she called them in to eat, Gwen heard a displeasing conversation between her children that she decided to address with an example at the dinner table.                                        After the grace was said, Gwen told both sons that she had placed baloney on the counter in the kitchen so they could make themselves a sandwich.
"What? You must be joking, right, Mom?" they exclaimed. "After all the work we've done?!?"  Gwen said, "Listen. While you were outside working, your little sister folded and put away your clean laundry, straightened your shoes in your closet, dusted your bedroom furniture, and made the lemonade to go with our meal. Instead of being across the street playing with her friend, she was here behind the scenes helping both you and me. When she came to you and asked if she could ride in the car when you got ready park it in the garage, your response to her was, 'No! You didn't do any work to deserve a ride!'  So, I am showing you the significance of her work by taking away what you would not have if she hadn't helped out today. The point of my lesson to you is this: Don't ever take anyone for granted. No matter what you do or how much you do, you can be certain that there is always someone somewhere behind the scenes whose contributions make a significant difference to your life.
We don’t see everything that goes on around us…but Jesus does.