Small, faithful steps in a kingdom direction...

I once heard a group fitness instructor say “You’re here, you’ve showed up. Don’t sell yourself short now.”

The idea being that if I’ve already committed the time to be here and present, then why not make the most of it? Don’t check out, because it’ll be over soon.

While the analogy breaks down a bit when considering self-isolation (namely, that unlike a begrudging 5 a.m. HIIT class, none of us signed up for a global pandemic!), the concept of stewarding our time well is ageless.

We’re two months into this thing, we can’t change that, but we can offer our everyday as an offering to the Lord.

I read about a man who prayed the same same prayer every morning:

"God help me to maximize what you want to emphasize today."

I love this prayer for several reasons.

It confesses that ultimately God is in control. The world is His, it puts Him on the throne before we’ve even started.
It acknowledges our partnership with the Holy Spirit, that we are dependent on Him and whatever we do in our day is the result of that communion.
It gives us a short-term, God-centered goal to focus our energy on. Small, faithful steps in a kingdom direction.

The world is doing its best to “maximize” this time too. We’re making sourdough, organizing cupboards, creating meal plans, planting gardens, doing crafts, reading books….. none of these are “wrong” or bad. But sometimes we can confuse productivity with purpose. If you’re like me, completing any one of those tasks only ends up posing a question: now what?

Relationship with the Holy Spirit infuses life into everything we do so that even in our seemingly “unproductive” times we are fully engaging with our God-given purpose.

I started praying that prayer in the mornings a few weeks ago, and it immediately shifted my perspective.

“Father, emphasize what you have for me today…”

Almost immediately my phone pings with a text from my sister asking for prayer.

I’ve been briefed. I pray for her as I make breakfast for the family and put off washing up the dishes. I pray in between work emails, while I go on a walk with my son. I pray while I fold laundry and ignore cleaning the bathroom… again. I pray while I go to sleep that night after exhausting my evening entertainment options on Netflix.

The day might’ve felt like any other, but heaven was shifted.

Tomorrow I will go back to “work”, joining heavenly forces, my purpose secure.

Even in the midst of the chaos.

Even in the midst of global crisis.

Even in the mundane of another identical day.

Even when the future is unknown, our purpose is not.

Love,
Rend Co.