Train of Thought

Week of February 18-24-2013

Our evangelical culture has become so corrupted in the way we think about such ideas as “ministry” and “service” and the “glory of God” that we can easily come to believe that these are things others are called to do because they’re just too big or too involved for us.

But very often it’s the things we take most for granted that have the greatest power for advancing the rule of King Jesus.

When we are committed to living for the glory of God, every moment of time becomes fraught with potential for showing the resurrection life of Jesus to the watching world. The promises and glory of God are intended for the “here and now” of our lives – every day, in every situation, and not just when we’re doing something we might actually regard as “the Lord’s work.”

We can’t all be Bible teachers or ministers or missionaries. We can’t all start ministries for this, that, or the other particular type of work. We’re not all going to be writers or composers or big donors to the work of the Lord.

But we all live, and where we live we engage other people, many – perhaps most – of whom have no clue that Jesus is alive and making all things new. How will they ever come to know this? How will they ever glimpse the reality of the new world which is breaking like the dawn into this old, sinful arena, and driving back the darkness of sin? Paul insisted, probably with Habakkuk 2.14 in mind, that we have the potential in all our daily activities, in all the ways we use our time, talents, and tongues, to refract the power and light of the Kingdom of God into the murkiness of this unbelieving age (1 Cor. 10.31).

We need pastors who exemplify this way of life and equip us to live it as well. We need to seek the Lord’s mercy every day of our lives, so that we will be alert to the opportunities for proclaiming His Word and glorifying Him which He presents before us each day. All our time, abilities, resources, talents, relationships, roles, and responsibilities come to us by assignment from the Lord, as arenas and means whereby we might fulfill the calling for which He has sent us into this world.

Every moment of every day, you can shine the dawn of Christ into the clouds and confusion of someone’s life, bringing righteousness, peace, joy, and dignity into what are likely to be otherwise rather ordinary lives. Seek the Lord continually, and watch how He uses the little things, the “everydayness” of your life to light up the reality of His Kingdom life and power for others.

The Little Things
Shaver’s Fork, Cheat River

The river whispers ceaselessly.
Its murmured message goes unheard
for most of its journey to the sea. 

But when at length it passes me
I listen, hoping for a word
of wisdom, or some insight free

of nonsense, pride, or vanity –
some thought I might employ to gird
my mind against mortality. 

Its rushing ripples casually
express their views, without a word,
but clearly and convincingly:

“The little things,” it says to me,“
done faithfully and well, absurd
as it may seem, combine to be 

the bigger things that finally
endure.” It is enough for me.

From T. M. Moore, Fault Lines