The Days of Small Things
Have you ever stopped to think about why you’re doing what you’re doing? I’m sure you’ve thought about the why as it relates to taking care of your children, beloved pet, or family member, but what about the oft quoted example of cleaning the dishes or the endless pile of laundry?
I often focus on the importance of what I’m doing; keeping the house clean, keeping track of freelance writing assignments, scheduling veterinarian appointments for the animals, the thousands of small decisions I make every day, both conscious and unconscious.
The part of the decision we don’t put much emphasis on, especially in relation to the more mundane, boring parts of life is the why behind our decisions. Why do we do what we do? What motivates us to choose to sweep the never-ending cascade of cat and dog hair from the floor?
Our motivation comes from somewhere, whether it’s simply because we like a clean house or because someone asked us to do it. I don’t know many people who feel completely satisfied from getting the floor cleaned. Yes, you feel you’ve accomplished something, and you have, but true satisfaction comes from a much deeper place.
God cares what we do and why we do it, even in the simple rhythms of mundane life. He not only cares that you chose to be productive, to do something good for your neighbor or yourself, He cares about the reason behind your choice.
Occasionally, we pray for the big things in our lives, big changes we want to see happen. The promotion you’re qualified for and have waited years to come around, the nice house you’ve driven by and imagined was your family’s. We want the best parts of life and, often, we aren’t satisfied with only what we already own.
I can’t speak for you, but I can admit I’ve prayed for big changes, the bigger and better things I want to swing my way.
One thing we can be sure of is God is trustworthy. You and I can pray, trusting in the assurance that He will answer that prayer, one way or another.
He might answer your request for a promotion at work or to simply have a job by saying, “Wait.” He might answer the prayer you and your husband have cried out for years with a plus sign on the little white stick, pregnant.
Whether the answer I get to my prayer is in line with my expectations, it is answered. It is heard. The question drifting across my mind as I wait for an answer or sit with the answer I’ve already received is one of life’s most unanswerable, Why is this happening?
God might simply be calling you to be right where you are today, even if the water rising around you is murky and the way ahead, unclear. Sometimes we aren’t called to the big and better things, we’re called to the simple, the small, and the seemingly insignificant.
“For who scorns the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).
It is easy for me to sit here in my brown, home office chair and tell you to just hold on, just keeping praying, just keep doing the right thing.
But when you’re in the deep water of life and you don’t understand what’s happening to you, the faith you’ve long clung to sometimes begins to waiver.
As you start to understand the harsh reality of waiting and trusting, no clue of what’s next, the ‘encouragement’ of others to hold to the faith or pray for *insert your given need here* might feel a little lackluster to your already fraying, untethered soul.
In the midst of these harsh circumstances, when the rejection emails for the hundreds of jobs continue to slam into you, when the job promotion you worked so hard to get is handed to another, we continue to have faith in our inability to understand.
We continue to do what God is calling us to do. Wait. Trust. Write. Keep doing your job. Show kindness to the people who mean well, but don’t understand.
Keep doing the what but look deeper inside yourself to find the why behind it.
We don’t continue on in the hope that our doing the right things, the good things will get us a better outcome next time. Hustling toward the now extended goal does us no good if we aren’t aware of our complete lack of control toward reaching that goal.
Yes, do the right and good things. Do those small, simple things you must do. Keep the house clean and the children fed. Keep working hard at your job.
But please do not make the mistake of believing your hustle and endless race toward finally ‘arriving’ will actually get you what you need. At the end of the day, I keep doing and going because I believe God’s plan is unfolding right before me.
I believe God continues to work within me and through me even when the most productive thing I’ve accomplished that day is washing the dishes or taking the dog for a walk.
I believe the slow work of God doesn’t stop because our circumstances change or because I don’t understand how this twisted mess my life seems to look like fits into the plan I envisioned God had for me.
But most importantly, if the past few years have taught me nothing, it’s that I simply don’t get to know God’s full plan for my life. He doesn’t give me the blueprints for the simple reason that trust can only truly be established in the uncharted territory I enter into on faith.
Simply put, I keep doing the things I know God is calling me to do because I know no one’s story is finished being written, and no one ever sees the plot twist coming.
