What is the most average day of your week? For me, it is Wednesday. The day that seems the most routine, the most ordinary, the least exciting. On Wednesdays, I am nested into a string of days that are much the same. Day-to-day life can be such a routine that we sometimes refer to it as “boring” or mundane. But if we dig into the daily grind with the desire to make a difference, we may just find times that God can and is using us, perhaps without us even knowing it.
A close friend owns a real-estate agency in a small town. Had you asked her if that was her goal 12 years ago, she would have laughed at you. At that time, she didn’t have any training in or any real interest in real estate. She had just moved to town and she loved it and its people, and she enjoyed talking with folks and encouraging them to engage in all the great things she had found there.
Her passion was so contagious that the real estate agent who helped her purchase her house continually asked her to consider becoming a broker for him. He told her that what draws people to areas and homes is seeing a community illicit appreciation and affection from its citizens, and she demonstrated that. She and her husband had burrowed into life there, impacting people along the way. Lest you think their life was easy, it most definitely was not. Jesus has walked them through many incredibly difficult circumstances. However, the agent valued the joy with which she embraced her life and location. After praying about it, she eventually conceded, and the thrilled businessman paid for her certifications and training. Her continued God-fueled expression of contentment and happiness in her everyday life earned her success at her job and attention from industry co-workers.
After she had worked for several years, the Lord presented her with an opportunity for her and her husband to buy an agency, which they did. They have both become integral and respected members of the community. As they embrace day-to-day living, their circle widens, opportunities for growth increase, and they encounter more opportunities to speak into people’s lives with the love of Jesus.
They were faithful with little and God gave them much.
So often we look for God to call us to a giant task. When He doesn’t, we think that He isn’t “revealing His purpose” or “using us in any significant way.”
God puts us where we are – situation and location – for a purpose. His purpose. We can make the most of it, or keep looking outside our circumstances for something that may never appear. In the meantime, we miss what is happening around us.
Elijah, one of the great prophets of God, expected God to show up in a tornado, then in an earthquake, and then in a fire. But the way that God showed up was in a gentle whisper. (I Kings 19:11-13)
Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much”. (Luke 12:48) Perhaps if we look at what we deem to be our small, insignificant routines as our opportunity to impact the community around us with the love of Jesus, He will use us and show us greater things.
There is a saying that encompasses this thought: Bloom where you are planted. A seedling doesn’t produce fruit, or support nests and birds. But if it grows its roots, trunk, and branches, it will eventually produce fruit and become a support for others to enjoy.
We should evaluate how we are using our string of Wednesdays. Are we letting God use us where He has placed us, or are we missing it because we are looking elsewhere? Sometimes, we need to embrace the routine and see what God does!
