From Mundane to Our Gain

Mundane, the definition of this word is used as a lack of interest, of excitement, or dullness in our day-to-day responsibilities. Does your schedule look anything like this; wake up, walk the dog, take a shower, turn on the coffee pot, get dressed, so on and so on. You may do these same things every day. Some of us thrive on routine and the comfort of what to expect or knowing what comes next. Yet there are some of us, who, when we have to do these routines, get discouraged and dread them and even hem and haw at them, asking, when will this end?  You say to yourself, I do the same thing every day and it just lacks luster, but, God views it as miraculous. How can this be so if you feel like all the little tid bits of life that you do as routine are just so boring and dreadful to your life. It may seem that while we are tasked with so much in one day or even in one moment, and we will eventually be hassled with the same task either the following day or following moment, these things are very important to our existence. They teach us a number of things about who we are and how we choose to deal with or handle the little things that are given to us to take care of. And though they seem burdensome, they are small gifts that we are getting to use to shape and mold us before God. The question that arises, more often than not, is why am I even doing this in the first place?

It may appear that these little things that consume much or little of your time have no real meaning or purpose and that no one is even going to notice that you are doing them. I have some good news for you, God sees you and everything you are doing on the check list of to-dos. As a human living in this world one of the many things I am tasked with everyday is laundry, I have to put it in the washer, then set the washer, after the wash, I have to move it to the dryer, and then set the dryer, that part  is not so bad till it starts to pile up, here comes the part, I am sure, many of us do not look forward to, taking the clothes out of the dryer, folding them, matching socks and then putting the clothes away. I don’t know about you, but it seems like a lot of little details just to have something to wear. Why not just throw those away every time they get dirty and buy new ones; then you don’t have to wash them or fold them or put them away.  The obvious reason, it would get expensive and then there will come the hassle of driving to the store to buy new clothes.

As a believer, I am tasked with my daily devotional time and sitting down to dig into what God has for me, in his word, the Bible. This at times seems mundane because you aren’t always wanting to take time, or you think there may be more pressing things you have to get done. But why and what is the purpose or importance of all of this? If you have children, you are probably a parent who has been trying so hard to teach your child to stay on task and to finish the task all the way through. I am guessing that you are not wanting them to just do the task or finish the task but to care about the task. To take heart to the matter of what they have and what they are given, to use, and take care of. God too is looking at the heart of how we are handling the things in this life that we have to do or be responsible for. Do we care, and how are we showing that we care? How much time and attention do we put towards these things, and for what reasons in our heart, are we doing them? To God, this measures our character of trust and our character of faithfulness. As He watches what we do with the things we are entrusted with and the responsibilities that we are leader of, that we were given dominion over, by God himself. God too shows this character of trust and faithfulness in his mundane tasks, the Bible says this in Mathew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? The birds trust that God will provide them food, God faithfully carries out his responsibility to provide the birds with food. And; He doesn’t just throw them some worms, and say; here ya go, well… that’s done! No, of course not, He takes his time and creates a meal for each type of bird. He takes His time in seeing what is needed rather than just getting it done. He takes heart to know each bird and what each bird requires to get all the nutrients it needs and be full. He too does the same for us in the environment He has created for us, here in this life, in this world. He has also given us a task of seeing the importance of our life and all the things in our life even if we are tasked to do it day after day. How we choose to do the things we are responsible for is important to God. He wants it to be important to us too.  

So, where is the miraculous part, it is simply this; Are you a life liver? Well, if you are breathing then you are living and living is a responsibility to enjoy the life we have, unto God. Seeing that in all we do we are doing it from the heart, because it has meaning to us and to others around us but especially to God. Mundane sounds like a heavy word and can at times bring on a heavy load of work; but the rewards of the heart we put into them are very light and plentiful, making mundane from pain to gain. We gain character showing heart, we take pride in what we have, are given, and are tasked with; showing others that we are trustworthy to be given leadership roles or big jobs because we are faithful in doing the work the right way considering all that it entails. So, will you step out of mundane and into gain? I challenge you this week to take each task as it is, looking at all it has to offer you and all it requires from you, but this time not hemming and hawing at it, but seeing it as something special. I am sure you have heard this before, today is known as a gift, because it is called the present. How do you treat the gifts you receive? And can you see all that you have as a gift and not just as the mundane? I think that you can, if, you put a little bit of heart into everything you have or need to get done. Go find the true gain in the mundane which is JOY!  

Luke 16:10 NKJV:

He who is faithful (trusted) in what is least, is faithful (trusted) also in much; and he who is unjust (dishonest) in what is least is unjust (dishonest) also in much

2 Corinthians 5:9 NKJV:

Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

Galatians 6:9 NKJV:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know what you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.