The task at hand

These past few days I’ve been reminded of a lesson I learned years ago.

More than ten years ago our family were missionaries.

It took us two years just to get there.

One morning, after a few weeks of settling in, I went to the Lord with a heavy heart.

I prayed about how I was being overwhelmed with the daily tasks of life.

I just felt like laundry, dishes, and mopping the floor was eating up my time and I couldn’t get to the reason I was there.

“Lord, I just want to minister! How can I get to that with nonstop housework?”

He answered.

He took me to Ruth.

So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
Ruth 2:2 NKJV

She just needed to survive.

But instead of feeling sorry for herself, she did the task at hand.

That was the key.

Housework is just as important as leading a Bible study if my heart is serving Jesus.

God is interested in my heart.

“Am I serving Him in this task I’m engaged in?”

It’s something I’ve been trying to ask myself frequently this week.

Not as a religious stipulation, but instead as a guard rail.

Guarding my heart from useless pursuits or pride.

I also find it helpful as a way to combat an old lie.

As a young believer I thought I had to : “Do big things for God”.

However, the Lord has shown me over and over again that He wants me to surrender my own agenda and simply live daily to Him.

When I’m sick, my “do” shrinks.

In those times, I have found it vital to remember: God isn’t disappointed because I’m not “doing” more.

He knows my limitations.

He even has things for me in those seasons, like prayer, Bible study, or sometimes just resting in His hands and trusting Him while struggling.

The task at hand may not seem valuable.

Ruth couldn’t have known that daily gleaning the fields would endear her to the man who would become her husband.

She couldn’t have seen that this back breaking task, which went on throughout the whole harvest, would end in her having a place in the lineage of Jesus.

Her faithfulness in the task at hand was used by God.

She was His servant.

And God used this humble lady to be the grandmother of kings.

The lesson is clear for me.

I need to do what God has set before me with joy and faithfulness.

I need to surrender my own ambitions, dreams, and desires before Him.

I need to trust Him in everything.

Including my “To Do” list.

Matthew 22:36 NKJV — “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Matthew 22:37 NKJV — Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for this lesson. Thank You for continually bringing me back to this place of surrender. Please Lord, help me to be Your servant, humble, faithful, and filled with joy of serving You, no matter what that entails. Lord, thank You that my life is so much more valuable than self fulfillment. Instead, You call me to pick up my cross and follow You. Lord, thank You for reminding me of these truths. Please continue to wash my soul of sin and renew my heart through Your Word. I love You, Jesus. Amen.