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 14,619thth 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.
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3 Cheers Betsy! Loved your words. I want more of God in my mundane. I know it is then that my attitude will be in check. Loved this line – “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.” Thank you for your inspiring words. XOXO
I love that quote too, Kelly! Let’s live according to our high calling this week! Thanks for being here today.
I loved that quote too, it’s very Brother Lawrence too isn’t it? Thank you so much for the series, it was a beautiful way to start the year.
Yes, that quote IS very much like a brother Lawrence quote, Victoria. I love it myself. Thanks for your encouragement on the series.
Betsy, thank you for this reminder that it all not only matters but is important & needed. I have come to realize the mundane extends for years into being a mother-in-law & a Mimi too 🙂 I have come to realize, increasingly so, our most important work is ever before us. Blessings, friend!
Oh Joanne, I never even thought of that! Our Mundane extending! I guess some elements of it last our whole life long! May we be faithful!
Betsy- As a mom of teens myself, who sometimes feels like life is all about laundry and dishes, this is so encouraging. Thank you for reminding me that my work is worship- and that the mundane is sacred in His presence. And this is for my journal: ““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.” Perfect!
Yes, Karen! Our work is worship! You hit the nail on the head. (Or it can be if we’re not complaining about it, like I often do!) That Spurgeon quote made it’s way to my journal too!
It definitely takes a humble heart to serve God in the mundane. I’m one to fall into thoughts that I need to save the world, do it all, and be everything to everyone. Thank you for this reminder that anything I do, even the mundane, has great value when I offer it up to the service of God.
Yes, I fall into those kinds of thoughts too, Jenni! I’m in a season now where I’m having to focus on home a bit more than when my kids were in junior high, so I’m preaching to myself here! 🙂
Absolutely! I had the privilege of staying home with our daughters for about 18 months–the hardest 18 months of my life. Mostly because I felt that my husband didn’t ‘get it’. After he stayed home with them for four years, I would have loved staying home with with again ;). But, that wasn’t a very mature thought process from a pretty immature a selfish person. I did find joy towards the end of my stay-at-home mom stint, though, because I read this very verse and realized that as long as I did my work to glorify God, I was participating in something divine.
Thanks for sharing a bit of your history and thoughts here, Anita. I do find joy in the “theory” or idea of staying home with my kids. But in hanging that load of laundry or cooking that meal, not so much. Writing this post encouraged ME! 🙂
I really appreciate these suggestions, Betsy, because so much of my day-to-day life is mundane and repetitive: empty dishwasher again. Wash dishes again. Cook again. Do laundry again. (I took comfort from a post on Modern Mrs. Darcy’s blog this week about taking time to read books; the blogger said “At least books stay read and don’t have to be re-done!” 🙂 ) I just LOVE the Spurgeon quote, too. Simple faithfulness in the everyday tasks set before us is so important.
Oh I get repetitive Jeannie, believe me! Yes, simple faithfulness is what I want to cultivate.
I haven’t made it over to Modern Mrs. Darcy in a while. I miss her. Yes, books do stay read! (Unless you’re like me and forget half of what you read! 🙂 ) Thanks for being here today, friend.
Thank you for sharing this – it has helped me greatly today and was just the encouragement this weary heart needed to read! God bless 🙂
May God be the strength of your heart, Ruth!
Going to remember your words, Betsy, as I scrub the toilets 🙂 And your post came at a great time. Was speaking with a brand new young bride about this topic today. God is good. #RaRaLinkup
I have been working on applying the verse from Colossians more at the office. I read a post recently about how God goes with us even to work and it spoke to the comfort that should bring us. And it does, but it convicted me a bit in terms of how I go about my day at the office. Do I see it as ultimately serving Him? And if I do how would that change my day? As the year started I knew I was in need of a heart change with regards to my job. It’s a process, but He is so kind and loving in His teachings. Great and needed reminders, Betsy. Thank you!! Blessings. xoxo
May the Lord bless you at your job, Beth. May He renew our vision for serving Him through the ordinary. So easy to get bogged down by the mundane.
Betsy, I love this post. It speaks to me right where I’m at. This is a lesson God’s teaching me over and over but I’m slow to learn. 😉 Thank you for letting God use you to speak to others. Today, when I’m helping my three-year-old go potty and cleaning toys off the floor, I will remember your words. <3
Oh, I’ll pray for you, Abby. Helping kids go potty might be the worst ’cause you have to drop WHATEVER you’re doing immediately! I’m slow to learn this message myself.
Golly, as I stare at the pile of dishes that warrant my attention, this rings encouragement, loud and clear: “Sometimes I grumble about cooking dinner, but if Jesus were sitting in my kitchen hungry, I’d hop right to it! ” Yepper, I would hop right to it. Excuse me while I go take care of the dishes. 🙂 Thanks for your encouragement today, Betsy. #raralinkup 🙂
Yep, we’ve gotta get those dishes done! Hope you feel Jesus there with you while you do it!
Great post, Betsy! So insightful and encouraging. Love the phrase “ministry of the mundane”! I need to write those Spurgeon quotes in the back of my Bible! MUST get a copy of “All To Jesus”!
Thank you Shirley, I wrote those quotes in my journal too.
So lovely. Have you read Practicing the Presence of God? It is exactly this, faithfulness–grace, in the mundane.
Yes, It’s my favorite book after the Bible. Love it and have learned so much from it.
Good word, Betsy! My pastor spoke Sunday about being counter-cultural in our aspirations. “and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you…” (1 Thessalonians 4:11 ESV)
Thanks for continuing this thought for me this week!!
That is indeed counter cultural! Thanks for stopping by today.
Just the message I needed to hear today! I’ll remember this in the pep talk I give myself to walk in the office door each morning – even if I don’t love what I do, I need to do it as an offering to God. He’s the one who gave me this job and He’ll lead me out to the next thing when He’s ready. In the meantime, I need to be faithful and try not to grumble (too much).
Amen, Kathryn! May God bless you and give you vision for your day job. That’s great that you give yourself a pep talk every morning. 🙂
Love this! We think a like 🙂 I wrote a post (well, actually this is kind of my blog theme too, so it shows up a lot) about motherhood and the everyday divine: http://frontporchinspired.com/2015/01/14/a-letter-to-miracle-mom/ If you have time, check it out – I think you’ll smile at how God’s given us much the same words and thoughts! Thanks for your open heart for glorifying God in the midst of routine and schedule and dinner-making. That witness is so powerful.
God bless,
Anne
Thank you, Anne, for your encouragement. I look forward to checking out your post. It’s always nice to meet kindred spirits. 🙂
Hi Betsy … how our daily hours would shift gears if we embraced the glory of this truth you’ve shared. Thank you!
I hear you, friend! Those days when we feel what we do doesn’t really make a difference and then He whispers, “You are right where I want you!” Thank you for these encouraging words!
This, Betsy, “Maybe God is most magnified when we’re faithful to our ministry of the mundane.” I’ve wrestled with just this a lot the past year, but finally am seeing the truth in it. Thank you for this beautiful reminder today. I love those quotes from Spurgeon, too. You are always encouraging right where I need it! xo
I’ve wrestled with it a lot the past fifteen years. (ha ha ha) So if you make any progress or learn anything, BE SURE AND LET ME KNOW! I need all the help I can get. Love you, Meredith.
Oh yes…after stepping away from a ten year tenure in ministry and focusing on other callings, I’m learning to be content with the place God has me right now. Savoring the little, the mundane, instead of striving for more. Loved your practical and wise tools here to do just that!
That’s wisdom, Tiffany: “savoring the little instead of striving for more.” I’ll have to remember that.
Thirty three years ago I left a career in the military. I was an officer and used to soliders doing what I said when I resigned but that did not hold any weight with with my 2 year old!! Never looked back 5 kids later. Blessing, Linda
What a great testimony. Thanks for your visit.
Oh Betsy, thanks for sharing. Love that.
Love how you term it the “ministry of the mundane.” Ministry…so true. So often, we forget that.
Love the quote: “To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred…” ~ Even those things that scream “ordinary.” 🙂
Great post, thanks for sharing. ((Hug)) <3
That’s right, Brandi! Great comparison!