"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 15:58
Yesterday, people all across the world sat in churches and heard of the miraculous power and acts of an incredible God. In fact, our entire Christian faith is based upon the miraculous. A virgin-born Savior who lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death for the entire world, resurrected three days later, ascended into Heaven forty days later, and has promised to return and snatch His people away and meet them in the air... Pretty miraculous if you ask me!
Because of the miraculous nature of Christianity, many times we leave ourselves vulnerable and susceptible to believing that everyday life is supposed to consist of miraculous events and fail to see the value of the mundane. In our preaching and teaching ministries, we sometimes are so focused on seeing cataclysmic results that if we do not have an "awesome" Sunday we are somehow missing out on God's work in the world. In our bookstores, we read titles like "Radical" and believe it is God's will after reading such a book for us to sell all that we have and move to a third-world country. Anything less is not true discipleship and anyone who does not join us may not be a true Jesus follower. We unfortunately limit Christianity only to the spectacular and the miraculous.
The more I read my Bible and study the miracles of Scripture, I am always amazed by how many miraculous events were preceded by Mundane Days.
1. Moses was the great savior of the nation of Israel that saw many of the acts and power of God during forty years in the wilderness. Before this miraculous period was a mundane period of keeping sheep on the backside of the desert with his father-in-law Jethro. Awfully Mundane.
2. The walls of Jericho came flying down by the power of God and the oldest city in the world which was impenetrable was conquered in a matter of minutes. Before the walls came down, God told His people to take a seven day walk around the city. Pretty Mundane.
3. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. He is the Resurrection and the Life and calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb and the spirit of Lazarus was reunited with his body and he came out alive! Before Lazarus was raised to life, Jesus told some people around the mouth of the grave to take away the stone. In other words, "get the rock out of the way." Mundane.
4. Jesus feeds a multitude of 5,000 men with five matzo bread and two sardines. Somebody had to pack that lunch. Mundane.
There are hundreds of miracles recorded in the Bible but most of them are preceded by the mundane processes of life.
Today, I woke up to many tasks and responsibilities that must be handled on this Mundane Monday. Driving my kids to school, praying with them, reading my Bible, worshipping the Lord in prayer and song, emails, phone calls, meetings, two appointments tonight, helping Sara with her car, and many other small, mundane and ordinary things.
But already in the mundane, I have experienced the miraculous this morning:
1. I heard my 12 year old son talk to God and I thought, "Man, he really is growing in his faith." Miraculous!
2. I spoke with the God of the universe today and He revealed truth to me this morning in His Word. Miraculous!
3. My first phone call this morning at 8:25 was a discouraged Christian whom God used me to encourage this morning through His Word. Miraculous!
The miraculous does not take place without the mundane! Don't shortchange the process that God is using in your life today to show you His miraculous power tomorrow!
So stay-at-home mom who may not feel that what you are doing today is as valuable or as important as what other women may do, take hope! God is using the dirty diapers changed, the meals cooked, the house cleaned, the car repaired, and all the other mundane tasks of today to train a champion for Christ tomorrow who is watching and adoring your Mundane Monday today!
Men who are tired this morning after a long weekend of serving the Lord in your local church, rejoice! Your commute to work this morning, your meeting in the office, your cup of coffee before you get on the route, all may seem mundane, but God uses these mundane things to produce miraculous results!
Teacher, Coach, Employee, Friend, or whomever you may be, trust God! Be faithful today with whatever mundane task you face on a Mundane Monday. God is really working and using the mundane tasks of today to do miraculous things tomorrow, don't shortchange the process, embrace your Mundane Monday and watch your God to do His miraculous part.