Finding Glory in Your Mundane

January 27, 2015 by betsydecruz 44 Comments

When my kids were little the relentless routine of diapers, snacks, meals, cleaning, more snacks, and more diapers discouraged me.

“I left full-time ministry for this?” I wondered. “Am I crazy, or what?” I itched for more time to participate in church life and ministry.

Now that my kids are teens, I still wish I had more time to serve in discipling, speaking, and writing. But God calls me back to the ministry of the mundane. He calls me to faithfulness in the small things: home schooling and laundry.

Standing at the stove, cooking the 14,619th^th meal for my family, I ask God, “Don’t you have more important work for me to do?”

God says, “This is your most important work.”

Maybe God is most magnified when we’re faithful to our ministry of the mundane.

We need to see our daily work through His eyes.

“Work willingly at whatever you do,
as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
Colossians 3:23 NLT

 

If I read this verse right, it means I can teach, cook, and do laundry for God.

Charles Spurgeon’s words inspire me: “To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred! He puts on his workday garment and it is a vestment to him…He goes forth to his labor and exercises the office of the priesthood…”

“You housemaids, you cooks, you nurses, you plowmen, you housewives, you traders, you sailors—your labor is holy if you serve the Lord Christ in it.” (From “All to Jesus”)

Whether you’re typing documents in an office, or changing diapers at home, your labor is holy if you do it for Jesus.

Sometimes I grumble about cooking dinner, but if Jesus were sitting in my kitchen hungry, I’d hop right to it! Spurgeon offers this encouragement to people who feel like cooking one more meal might kill them:

“He has made the common pots and pans of your kitchens to be as the bowls before the altar if you know what you are and live according to your high calling.” 

How do we remember our high calling as we work?

How do we see God’s glory in our mundane?

Lift Up Your Work as an Offering

Whether you’re working a switchboard or vacuuming your living room, lift up your labor to God. Ask Him to open your eyes and help you to see it as an offering.  Say, “Lord, I want to do this for you.”

Ask for God’s Help

How often do we perform our work on auto-pilot, assuming we have what it takes to do it? But don’t we want God’s empowering grace for everything we do? Ask Him to be present to you while you work, to infuse your tasks with His grace, and to give you His joy.

Thank Him When You’re Finished

Isaiah 26:12 says, “All we have accomplished is really from you.” As you complete a task, lift it up to Him. Thank Him for enabling you and being with you. Recognize his grace working through you.

May God open our eyes to see more of His glory in our work. He’s most magnified when we’re faithful to our ministry of the mundane.

Does monotonous, daily work ever get you down? What helps you to find the glory in it?

Linking up today with Holly Barrett’s #TestimonyTuesday and Kelly Balarie’s #RaRaLinkup. Come join us for more encouragement.

Last Friday was the last post of Fresh Starts and New Mercies. I want thank each of our guest writers for sharing their hearts with us, and I want to thank you for reading and commenting. I look forward to regularly posting again on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Enter your e-mail in the box at the top right hand of this page to subscribe and receive fresh shots of faith to your inbox.