Life in the Little Things

So whether you eat or drink or whatever

you do, do it all for the glory of God.

                       I Corinthians 10:31 NIV 

Speaking of the shallow and the profound, Oswald Chambers wrote: “Determinedly take no one seriously but God, and the first person you find you have to leave severely alone as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.”

Fraud! Cheater! Imposter! These words speak to the motive of my heart. I used to think this verse related only to my actions, but was recently made aware that this verse penetrates to the marrow of my spiritual bones—not only what I do but what I think.

 

What do I think when my plans for the day are interrupted by someone else’s need? What do I think when I have made plans for money saved then someone presents a need I feel I must meet? What do I think when the mundane of daily life interferes with my plans for doing big things for God?

The record of the life of Christ on earth is the ultimate example of grace in the midst of the ordinary everyday common events of life. Christ was born into the ordinary, chose the ordinary to be His disciples and ministered most often to the common ordinary people met along His way—yet He is God!

Therefore, it is in the ordinary—not the great things I desire to do for God— where He reveals the motives of my heart. If I learn to live with Christ-like motives in the little things, then when and if God allows me to step out into the deep with Him, I will be able to look in my mirror without the fear of seeing an imposter.

The motive of my heart should always be—Lord, it is all about you and not about me. Today I pray that God will shake His children like a dust-filled blanket reminding each of us to check our motives as we go about doing the ordinary to the glory of God.

©Joyce Powell