Dear fellow world-changer,
Sometimes, doing hard things seems boring and insignificant. Like everything we do isn’t really helping anyone.
How is hitting tennis balls making a difference? How is studying about chemical bonds and electron configurations helping the poor? How is sitting in my bedroom typing on my keyboard changing the world right now?
The world is full of poverty and famine. Disaster and corruption. Death and grief.
And what I am doing about it?
At first glance, not much. And that breaks my heart. You probably feel much the same.
But the truth is, you matter. You have purpose. You are loved.
There is purpose in the mundane
I long to serve. I long to help. I long to tell the whole world, “Jesus saves!”
But you know what?
King David did mundane work too. Before he slayed Goliath, defeated armies, and ruled the kingdom of Israel, he was a humble, teenage shepherd.
If we look at David’s situation then as a teenager without knowing all the wonderful things he will do, we would probably question his mundane work.
How was spending hours tending sheep on the field changing the world around him? How could killing bears and lions to protect livestock be important?
Yet it was important.
Did you know that the traditional method for training kings was to be a shepherd?
I didn’t know that either, and I bet David had no idea.
But that’s how God works right?
God’s plan is so intricate. So complex. So wonderful and amazing that we can’t even understand how it works at the moment.
I encourage you to keep plodding away at what God has given you to do. Remember 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
If you are obeying God and seeking Him, then your labor is not in vain! Keep tending the ‘sheep’ in your life. Keep doing hard things even if they seem boring or insignificant at first.
That small act might just be how God wants you to serve.If you are obeying God and seeking Him, then your labor is not in vain! Keep tending the ‘sheep’ in your life. Keep doing hard things even if they seem boring or insignificant at first.That small act might just be how God wants you… Click To Tweet
There is purpose in you
Sometimes, doing mundane work makes me feel really small. I know God is using it to train me for the future, but instant gratification and insecurity often hit me from behind.
If you’re feeling insignificant, remember these three simple promises from God: you matter, you have purpose, and you are loved.
You matter.
But how? And why? My friend, it’s so simple.
This morning, you woke up. Oxygen filled your lungs and carbon dioxide exited. You are alive.
You matter because God created you and sustains you.
You see, God doesn’t waste His resources. Though He has plenty, He doesn’t waste them.
So you, my friend, matter. Not because you will do some amazing thing later on in your life. Not because you won the state championships. Not because you got straight A’s. Not because you fed the poor or made shelters for the homeless.
But because God made you.
You have purpose.
God created this whole universe. He created the birds to scatter seeds. He created the sun to give us light and warmth. He created the clouds to be part of the water cycle.
He created you.
You’re aware that you matter because God created you.
That’s great! But don’t forget that God doesn’t waste anything, including you. Ask yourself, “What is my purpose? God put me here to do what?”
Don’t stress if you don’t know what your purpose is. I’m still figuring mine out too. But Jesus does give us directions to follow no matter what. (Matthew 22:36-40)
1. Love God with all you heart, soul and mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
David did a great job at this. He loved God above all else. He spent hours of isolation in the fields tending his sheep, and he was content. Away from people, he spent time in God’s presence. The whole time, he was praying to God, singing to Him, surrendering to Him and learning more about Him. Firsthand, he experienced God’s faithfulness because he was in the moment and completely present with God.
David also loved others. His father Jesse gave him the task to tend to the sheep. Instead of whining and complaining that he couldn’t be with his older brothers doing cooler and bigger things, he obeyed. And we know from 1 John 5:3 that loving requires obedience–and that’s exactly what David did.
So keep seeking God. Keep loving Him and loving others, He will lead you in the right direction. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
You are loved.
You might be thinking, “Okay, Fe. That sounds good and all, but why did God make me? How can you say that I matter and have purpose just because I’m alive?”
Well, I don’t know the specifics, but I do know that God loves you. This isn’t flattery; it’s the truth. Romans 5:8 says: but God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us. His love for you was so big that He sent His only Son to die for YOU. (John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-11, Ephesians 2:4-5)
See? Verses upon verses of God’s Love for you is in the Bible!
Because God loves you, you matter. Because God loves you, you have purpose.
While you are seeking to serve Him, while you are longing to change the world, don’t ever forget that whether you have a trophy or no trophy, straight A’s or no straight A’s, injury or no injury, a mundane or exciting life, you matter and have purpose because the Master of the Universe, the King of Kings, our Heavenly Father loves you.
