If I do good deeds, I will get good things?
There is a proverb in the Netherlands that says something like: “If I do good deeds, I will receive good things”. But let’s be honest… unfortunately it doesn’t work that way, no matter how much we would like to believe in it. We say it so often as humans, perhaps to encourage ourselves because somewhere we know very well that, unfortunately, it is not the case. And that is sometimes quite difficult to deal with.
If I do good deeds, I will receive good things? #lol …Not really. Unfortunately, that is not the case all too often these days. Give them a finger, and they’ll take the whole hand….or more… No thanks!
And we know that feeling oh so well on this side of the globe. Sometimes we also put a lot of energy into something on and nothing seems to come out of it. You try so hard, but you can’t even get a “Thank You” or a postcard. Or even worse. WAY worse. You are literally robbed while you were trying to help someone. And that is terrible and inexcusable. Full stop. Unfortunately, we also know what that is, from experience.
That is why we consciously choose not to work under that motto. Because if we rely on “If I do good deeds, I will receive good things”, then we walk from disillusionment to disillusionment. So, we focus on the things where we see really great results where we absolutely didn’t expect them!
The refugee with a smile, the homeless person you sit with on a bench laughing about something funny, the “burned-down pastor” who was able to continue after a retreat, the suicidal client who is looking forward to another day. Also wonderful are the people who help you with something you didn’t expect. Who are suddenly there, helping us with something, without asking for anything in return. While some you don’t even know! And suddenly, they appear on your doorstep (in whatever form) and help you to help others. We focus very, very hard on that.
Because indeed, “If I do good deeds, I will receive good things”… unfortunately, we would love for it to work that way, but it is not a saying that is true in this crazy, crazy world…
And there’s something else. Because honestly, no matter how hard we try to focus on that, if we’re robbed again (sometimes literally) while trying to help someone, that’s not enough anymore. The disillusionment is so great that no amount of “focusing on good things” can compete with that in this world. So we focus on what’s to come:
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.
Psalm 118:8
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
And that gives perspective after yet another “robbery”. Because then that incident no longer matters because you know why you are doing it. And that’s how we survive in a sometimes completely crazy world that has gone nuts.
