Meaning in the Mundane

A whole week has gone by and it feels like I haven't written in a while. Sometimes I have a streak where so many things are happening that I could post a blog every single day, and other times, I sit here and stare at the screen wondering why a whole week has gone by and I can't think of anything to write about. 

I just finished a great book, The Will of God as a Way of Life by Jerry Sittser, that challenged my thinking about God's will. I used to think of God's will as the plan he has for my future, a path that I must seek out and discover. However, the Bible actually says relatively little about the will of God as a specific future plan, but rather refers to how we ought to live in the present moment. The will of God is therefore something to be understood and obeyed in the here and now, not something to worry about in the future. 

One chapter specifically addressed the routine aspect of our daily lives, you know, the dishes to wash, the clothes to fold, the lawn to mow, the kids to pick up from school and drive to soccer practice...the ordinary and mundane things that we actually spend the vast majority of our time on this earth doing. We consider these to be unimportant, not meaningful tasks, which is why I find myself sitting here saying, I have nothing to write about except the cleaning, the cooking, the errands, and the routine things that no one cares about...

But the author of the book and the Word of God have something to say about this. Sometimes God does call individuals to do extraordinary things, but mostly he desires his people to be faithful in the seemingly mundane. Maybe it's not about how much we do for God, but rather the attitude and manner in which we do the few things that he has called us to do. "Whatever you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." It is this God-glorifying manner of doing things that gives each daily task it's value. 

Take doing the dishes for example. I have learned to love doing the dishes because it makes me slow down (maybe it helps that we don't have a dishwasher), use the time to stare out the window and pray, or hum to myself and center my heart on praise. What was once mundane and a "waste of time" has now become a sacred moment in each day. 

With just a little creativity and hearts centered on God's presence, we can find the holy in the common place. We can see something more. 

Just a few days ago, I wrote about being on adventure with God, getting out of your comfort zone, doing something new and big. Here I am a few days later writing about doing the dishes and delighting in the ordinary, daily things. It appears to be a contradiction, but let's see it more as a balance. A dance between being faithful daily in the small things while being always available and ready to dare and venture out in reckless abandon and obedience. 

Life is kinda like that, I think. Even in Africa. Some days you have a great story to tell to the world, other days you feel like nothing was particularly noteworthy. Instead of being the judge of that ourselves, let us look to the Lord. For what matters is not how much we do, but with how much love and faithfulness we do it. What makes our days really matter is not the type of activities that we do, but rather his presence in everything that we do. May his presence permeate everything we do - the extraordinary and the mundane - and may we delight in our days in find meaning in our moments as we do everything in worship of God.