So my time in Quito has come to an end, it has been a challenging month with ministry, living with a Spanish speaking family, and just the business of keeping a schedule and all that went with it. However with that being said it was a good month.
The Lord really reminded us, especially toward the end of the month that it doesn’t matter what kind of ministry we do, whether sharing the gospel and seeing multitudes of people coming to the Lord, or cleaning toilets, classrooms or whatever seemingly unimportant task that might be. Rather what matters is the attitude and the condition of your heart when you do these things, because the ‘pay’ of being faithful in these tasks is the same.
So it doesn’t matter what ministry God has called you to, whether prominant or not, but the condition or your heart while serving is what is important to the Lord. This is something that was really placed on our hearts this month and even though we were aware of it, at times it is still difficult to ‘do all things without complaining’, and ‘to be joyful in all things’. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 3, ‘So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers.’
A similar theme is the need to be faithful in the small things. Since we are all working for the same purpose, that is the kingdom of God, we need to be faithful in our appointed tasks. It is important to do a good job of the small things. Small things can be forgotten and easily overlooked, but often it is a test from God as to whether or not he can entrust us with the bigger things. The Bible says that if we cannot be trusted by God in the little things, how then can God trust us to be faithful in the big things? But rather if we are faithful in what he has given us, such as the parable of the servants in Luke 19, he will then give us bigger and better things as a reward for being faithful.
These are simple truths, but yet they are easy to forget. God desires us to be faithful in what he has placed us in, and that we do so with a proper attitude. It is good to be reminded of these things and this month was a good reminder for me.
