Would you do what you considered to be a boring and futile task if someone asked you to? And if you did, what would your attitude be? How much effort would you put into it?
This last month ministry was challenging for me because it gave me another reality check. Yep, again! God’s working away at me…! Most of our ministry consisted of tasks such as mopping, sweeping, digging, shovelling and even picking vines of a fence one day. I can’t pretend I was excited about it.
But here’s what I learned from my time doing those things. First off, God reminded me that He wanted to see that He can trust me with the little things before He gives me the bigger ones. If we steward well what God gives us, we know He will give us more. Jesus explains this in the parable of the Ten Minas (see Luke 19) where the King gives his servants ten Minas and asks them to put the money to work. To the servant who earned more Minas,he says “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.” Luke 19:17. God doesn’t just throw us in the deep end with big responsibilities until He can see that we can have the right attitude to smaller ones. By doing smaller tasks He teaches us to be humble and rids us of the attitude of being too good for them.
A particular frustration of the tasks we were given this month was that many of them seemed futile to me. Every day areas had to be swept and mopped over and over again regardless of the fact that wind continually blew leaves and dirt back onto the floors we had just cleaned. I’m the kind of person who likes to work hard to see a good result, so it was difficult to keep motivated when it didn’t seem like I was making any difference. As I tried to see the lesson in this I started to think, if God asked me to do something I considered pointless, would I do it? I realised that the answer should be yes, simply because I love Him. My love for God should be enough for me to say yes to whatever He asks of me, whether I consider it worthwhile or not. And not only to do it, but to do it well because it is for Him.
Ministry hasn’t always been what I hoped it would be. Days on the race are often hot, tiring, repetitive and mundane. But that’s ok, because I love my God and I know that He is always teaching and refining me through all He asks me to do.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24
