God has immediately answered my prayers exactly three times in my Christian life. Once, when my girls were little, I was facing one of those exhausting winter days when the kids were all sick. I was alone with them and their endless demands, but couldn’t seem to make anyone happy. Lydia, a toddler at the time, still took a bottle but was too busy to sit with it. So she’d walk around the house drinking and then chuck it whenever she was done. We’d find it in a toy bin, under the couch cushion, or behind a plant. That’s gross enough because, ew, spoiled milk. But what was worse is that she’d only drink out of one bottle. Three times a day we’d all have to hunt for the last place she left it. On this day, however, it was NOWHERE to be found. We looked every single place possible and couldn’t find it. With three sick, crabby kids and my tired and crabby self, I sat on my bed in defeat and asked the girls to pray with me to find that bottle. We said amen, Mary Claire took a step backwards, fell into a laundry basket and uncovered the bottle which was behind it. I sure wish He’d answer all my prayers that quickly but even e when he doesn’t, He still cares about all the little things, even the seemingly tiny things like a toddler’s bottle.
Friends, God cares about the details.
So much of daily life – the tasks, habits, and routines we do are mundane and that’s what makes them hard. Monotony in this life is real. We could try to siphon some things off our to-do lists by deciding what’s truly important but that’s not easy because clean underwear, a mowed lawn, and paying your electric bill are all pretty important. So are bathing our children, washing dishes, and checking email. They are routine things we need to do. As mundane as they are, they are also necessary.
“It’s our behaviors that define us more than what we say our values are.”
It’s also hard to discern what’s truly important because many of the routine things can be skipped. Do you have to do leg day at the gym this week? Do you need to go for a date night when the week’s schedule is crazy? Does it really matter if you look at your budget goals this weekend? Nope. But all these things, put together, add up to an intentional life. My counselor recently said, “It’s our behaviors that define us more than what we say our values are”. I don’t know about you, but I want my life to matter and I want to glorify God in the little things. There’s one word that helps me shift my perspective: get. Do I have to work out today? No. But I get to work out today. Do I have to record my spending? Nope, I get to. Do I have to purge my winter clothes? Yes, my drawers are a mess. But you get the idea.
We can get in the habit of thinking if we aren’t doing big things for God, we aren’t really doing anything.
Starting a non-profit organization or going on a mission trip to Mexico counts, but does dusting the furniture at home? Yes, and we get to do it. These little moments of quiet faithfulness are what make up a life. How will you try to honor God in the small moments today?
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