In a million unique
ways – as we change diapers, eat dinner, return e-mails, pay the bills – we are
to be the evidence of God. Jesus factored in the mundane. We need to eat and
sleep and shower and clean up and work on our marriages because of the way he
made us – typical, inadequate, and human. Embrace the common: a Sunday
afternoon watching sports, Starbucks with a friend, cooking dinner for a
neighbor, taking the dog for a walk, heading to a job that is making you more
humble and needy because it is so unfulfilling, or working through conflict
with a friend you have offended. This and more is all part of it.
So do your everyday
and your ordinary. Godliness is found and formed in those places…. Jesus says
the way we glorify God, the way we step into his story, is by accomplishing the
work God gives us to do. Jesus glorified his father on earth by doing that very
thing.
We play our part in
his story, and the beauty is, it was what we were made for.
~ from Anything,
by Jennie Allen
“I feel like I spend half my life in the car,” I huffed to my
husband one evening.
Of course, he assured me that he appreciated my constant shuttling
around of our three needy teens and that someday, they would look back and
realize the amazing sacrifice their mother had made on their behalf.
Really? Well, a girl can dream, right?
Maybe you’ve felt like me lately… that you’re nothing more
than a maid, cook, babysitter, dishwasher, errand runner, or (my personal
favorite) chauffeur. Yes? That’s you? Did you ever stop to consider that this
is all part of God’s story for you? That
God is shaping and molding you into His image through these seemingly mundane
tasks? That this is exactly where you belong?
The above passage in the book Anything by Jennie Allen really rocked my world. Instead of
complaining about the ordinary, I should be embracing it! This is the way I can
glorify God right where I am, in the left hand turn lane, waiting for the slow
poke in front of me to turn already!
(Oh, yikes, guess I better work on my attitude toward pokey drivers while I’m
at it!)
Wow! If I can really get
this – that I can glorify God even from the driver’s seat in the turn lane – I
can’t imagine how much easier, and more fulfilling, my life would become!
The mundane, the common, the ordinary, the hum-drum – this is
where godliness is found. This is where I
belong. By accomplishing the tasks God has set out for me to do before the
foundations of the world (Eph. 2:10), I am participating in His grand story
for my life.
Don’t know about you, but the driver’s seat (or the dishes, or the dirty laundry, or [insert your mundane task here]) just started looking a lot better!
“For we are God’s
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV
We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that Lisa-Jo posts on her blog. And we connect on Twitter with the hashtag #FiveMinuteFriday
No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.
Unscripted. Unedited. Real.
This is a wonderful post. If you had Twitter I would tweet it. I loved the statement: The mundane, the common, the ordinary, the hum-drum – this is where godliness is found. This is where I belong.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Janis www.janiscox.com
Found you at Five Minute Friday
Hi, Janis! Thanks so much! I do have a Twitter -- my twitter link on my blog disappeared! But if you'd like to follow and retweeet, my twitter handle is @thecampbells5.
Delete:-)
Amazing post.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Denise! Blessings to you!
DeleteLove your perspective here, Julie. And if you're anything like me, finding that perspective while sitting (relatively) peacefully at the computer is one thing... finding it again tomorrow morning, back in the driver's seat, is a whole new challenge... :)
ReplyDeleteYes, so true, my friend! Let's pray for each other! :-)
DeleteWhat a great perspective, I know we will all benefit from this timely reminder
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christa! So happy to see your comment! :-)
ReplyDelete