Since the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1), and the firmament showeth His handiwork, surely we creatures can declare the same thing. The heavens are pointing to God, saying, “Look!” and our lives can and should do the same thing.
But how does this work? What are the heavens doing that we can imitate? The heavens, as far as I can tell, are simply doing what God created them to do. They shine. They obey His commands. The winds quiet down when He tells them to. They blow where He sends them. The sun rises and sets day after day according to His plan and purpose, and this is declares God’s glory.
So it follows from this that we creatures glorify God when we do what He has created us to do. When we assume the position to which He has assigned us, and joyfully embrace our duties, we are pointing to Him and bringing Him glory.
I think we want it to be more complicated. We want to do something fancy to bring Him glory, and the mundane doesn’t seem important enough. But that is where we go wrong. When I was fresh out of college, I “told” God that I would go anywhere for Him. “Send me to India. I’ll go to the ends of the earth. Just get me out of Moscow.” It sounded very humble to offer to go somewhere far away. But it was actually very me-centered. I had a condition for God! And of course, I’ve been (happily) in Moscow ever since. I had to get at that un-surrendered territory in my heart and offer it to God as well. I thought that serving God would somehow be more significant or important or meaningful somewhere else, anywhere else. But He wanted me at my post right where I was.
Restlessness, dissatisfaction, and discontent can keep us from glorifying God right where we are. Are you unmarried? Newly married? A mother of one or a mother of many? Are you sick in bed? Do you have time on your hands? Do you have way too much to do? Look at your duties right where you are and don’t offer to go somewhere else. Do these things cheerfully with an eye to God’s glory. Shine. Blow where He tells you to blow. And quiet down when He says to hush up. This is what brings God glory.
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You’ll never, ever know the good this did me this morning. Well, I guess you do know, because I’m saying so 😉 Thank you and bless you
Then you have the scenario where mundane is what you want, and it gets yanked out from under you and you suddenly find yourself in a completely different adventure than what you’d wanted or anticipated. Then when you finally get the hang of that one, you get shifted again.
Sometimes leaving IS the correct answer. I’ve noticed that there’s a certain nagging restlessness in my soul that signals it’s time to move on – though I generally try to ignore it until God kicks me and says, “Go! Now!” It’s hard. Starting over in an new area isn’t fun. But when it’s obvious that is what needs to be done, the boxes get packed and goodbyes are said.
I still have much to ruminate on from your talk this weekend at the Family Advance on woman being the glory of man, but I wanted to thank you again for what you shared that helped right somethings that had become slightly askew in my life. I was also especially thankful to have my two oldest daughters attending with me…that was a first and gave us much to discuss and ponder.
Thanks, as always, Nancy for your godly counsel and encouragement. I appreciate your reminder to serve faithfully and joyfully right where I am, not wishing I were somewhere else or doing something different. I am curious to know, though, what you would say about how we can know when it is actually OK (and not just sinful discontentment) to take action to bring about a change we long for, such as a move to a bigger/better home, a move closer to family, church, etc., decision to quit homeschooling and put kids in Christian school, decision to change churches, etc….those kinds of decisions we all wrestle with at one point or another where we could bring God glory either way. Thanks!
Its hard to believe that the mundane can glorify God, so thank you for the reminder that it indeed does. Sometimes I feel like I need to get past cleaning up spit up and changing diapers to get to the real or better ministry… but I have to remember that IS the main ministry God has for me right now.
Oh,that is good stuff!
Now, if I could only be as consistent as the sun.
Loved this!
I have a request….if you could put a picture with your posts it would make it easier for me to pop them on my Pinterest “worth reading” board to come back to again & again.
Thank you!
I really appreciate how simply tangible and profound this is…and I loved Crystal’s comment!! 🙂
Thank you for this encouragement! I, too, wanted nothing more than to leave my home state and minister to others far, far, far away… But God had a different idea. And I am thankful for the pitter patter of lots of little feet coming down the hall each morning… But it is sometimes difficult to find joy in the repetition of Motherhood. All the posts you ladies share are so very helpful, constantly pointing us back to our Maker, our Purpose.
The example of the Sun is such a wonderful one! I often ponder on Psalm 19 and wonder at how it can be so joyfully obedient, when it only has ONE task. Shine. We think of it rising & setting, but it really stays put. And shines. Around the clock, day in, day out, year after year… And the entire World is blessed by it’s obedience!! Motherhood certainly has more variation than that! And so I strive for joy in my obedience to the work God has blessed me with.
This is just what I needed today! Thank you for your wise words!