Today I read this delightful paragraph which expresses exactly how I want to live.
What do I want? I want to serve? Whom do I want to serve? The Lord—in the person of his poor suffering children. And what is my reward? I serve neither for reward nor thanks, but out of gratitude and love; my reward is that I am permitted to serve. And if I perish in doing so? If I perish, I perish, said Esther, who, after all, did not know him who for love of me perished and who will not let me perish. And if I grow old in this service? Then I shall flourish like the palm tree, and the Lord will satisfy me with grace and mercy. I walk in peace and am careful for nothing.
This says it all. I cannot honestly say that this is how I am all the time, as if I seek no thanks or care for nothing. But I sense this great gift of trust, in whatever happens. I may perish, and yet the Lord will not let me perish, in defeat. My life is in the hands of infinite grace and mercy. It is a privilege to be a part of that.
The author of the paragraph is one Wilhelm Löhe, and it was quoted in a German text in pastoral theology, in 1950,and since in several prayer books for pastors.