Spotlight
“…it’s in those everyday, mundane moments we find God sustaining us with His voice rather than with applause from others.”
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 CSB).
This post won’t be super formal. In fact, it’s probably a little ragged! I’m just here to share something that has been on my heart for almost a year—something I alluded to in last week’s post.
We’ve made too much of the big stuff.
We’ve glamorized serving God in big ways only.
We’ve downplayed serving Him in the mundane.
I went to a conference last summer which was designed to help equip women who want to serve Jesus in writing and speaking. It was amazing, and I’d go again this summer if I could. I came away with so much encouragement, so please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to share.
I also came home with the feeling of a new pressure.
You see friends, I have wanted to write a book since I was in high school. I’ve worked on it, and I dream of one day seeing it in my hands. But going to this conference only solidified my fear: you’re supposed to have a huge platform or following to land a publisher. And from there, my mind raced with thoughts like Gosh, this will never happen for me. I have to somehow get thousands of followers as fast as I can. Labor Labor. Spin Spin. (Matthew 6:28).
I started to fixate on this, which honestly took a lot of the joy away—the joy of just dreaming with God. And I started to distrust that God could do anything significant with my life. Isn’t this crazy? To think that what God does in my life each day, even in seemingly small ways, doesn’t really matter? I’ve since become much more convinced that how we love God and serve God daily matters so much more—that it’s truly the big stuff.
Here’s what I really want to say. I’ve noticed over the last year how consumed we are with a celebrity mentality even as believers. It’s all over social media—this Christian celebrity lifestyle of constantly pushing out content. Ironically, as I write and share this blog, I wonder if we’ve become consumed with sharing content (blogs, videos, pictures, etc.) so that we’ll get glory. So that others will follow us. So that we can gain some type of platform or respect or validation. Have we become so concerned with others knowing how we serve and what we do that we forget the only One’s opinion which matters?
Here's what’s real: what we do away from the public eye and away from our social media accounts matters so much more.
I’ve talked with a few women lately who are wondering if what they do matters. They don’t feel called to anything big. They don’t feel led to teach or write or sing. And they feel defeated. They feel like maybe God has looked over them or forgotten them somehow.
God hasn’t forgotten you. That’s a lie.
Whether you are serving in a spotlight or in a kitchen, God sees you. And He delights in you and in what you’re doing. He smiles at your faithfulness to Him, even though others don’t see it. He sees you reading the bible to your kids at night. He sees you praying with them at bedtime and over meals. He sees you dragging your family to church even when it’s hard to get there. He sees how you reach out to someone you know is hurting. He sees when you work in the nursery. He sees when you place your offering in the envelop and when you drop off a meal for someone who just had surgery. He sees you. Others don’t have to.
I am more and more convinced that these things matter so much more than a platform. Because it’s in those everyday, mundane moments we find God sustaining us with His voice rather than with applause from others.
I still want to write a book one day. I still have dreams God has placed in my heart, and you probably do too. But if God never fulfills those dreams, I know more than ever that our daily lives matter. Those are the moments we get to love God and love other people. It’s where we make an eternal impact.