Let’s admit it—the Christian life and Christian service are not always thrilling. Both are often merely ordinary. And yet, faithfulness in ordinariness can please God.
Think of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth takes place during the period of the Judges when big, important events were happening in the life of Israel. And God has much to say about those events. And yet, amid the high drama of wars and political upheaval, God also cared about how a widowed mother-in-law and her Gentile daughter-in-law cared for each other. “Getting along with the in-laws” is about as small and insignificant as things get.
God sees the big and the small.
If anything, God prioritizes faithfulness in little things. As Jesus said:
“The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much” (Luke 16:10 nasb).
Life is a test—will you be faithful to God even in little things? If so, there’s a reward coming. And let’s admit it—most of our lives consist of doing little things, right? Few of us—and perhaps none of us—are world-changing figures like King David or Daniel or Esther. Our lives and actions are not currently changing the course of human events. But that does not mean what you do is not highly significant to the One Person Whose opinion really matters.
As Ruth shows, the Lord profoundly cares about your faithfulness in little things. It can be something as ordinary as your looking for a job—even a menial one—by which you can provide for your family. Why would God care about that? Because loving your neighbors is what God has commanded you to do. Obedience is valuable to God, no matter how small (1 Sam 15:22).
And when you overlook the needs of ordinary love to go looking for the big adventure, you can hinder your spiritual growth. How? When you focus on, dream about, and spend all your time planning to do the big things, you can leave the little ones undone. But that is neither what Jesus commanded nor what He did. Yes, Jesus performed miracles and spoke to large crowds. But He did the drudgery, too. As Oswald Chambers wrote:
Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. “Jesus…took a towel,…and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (see here).
If you’re not sure how you can serve God in the little things, look closely and you’ll see dirty feet all around.
