Quiet Faithfulness (Friday Devotional)

 

Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you.

- 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11

For more than a week, the people putting in the most hours at the church have not been staff members, Sunday School teachers, or deacons, but the volunteers decorating the church for this year’s Vacation Bible School, which we’ll hold next week Monday-Friday from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. Every day—rain or shine, on workdays and weekends and on Memorial Day, sometimes leaving the building after 10 PM—this small group of women has shown up to draw and cut and staple, over and over and over again. Seemingly every spare minute of their time has been given to the church, all so this year’s VBS is a vibrant, exciting experience for the families who attend.

Those volunteers won’t get a big check at the end of VBS. They won’t be invited onstage Sunday morning to take a bow—indeed, they’d shoot death glares my direction if I so much as asked them to stand and be recognized. And at the end of it all, most of the decorations they spent so long assembling will get thrown away.

It’s enough to make you start to think that such work is thankless, even pointless. After all, in our world, your impact is usually measured according to the fame and fortune you accrue. If people aren’t watching, it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t turn a profit, it isn’t valuable.

But the Bible teaches us that there is dignity and inherent worth in the kind of quiet faithfulness that Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.” Christian service often happens in the shadows instead of the spotlight; acts of love happen behind the scenes far more often than on a stage. Quiet, unglamorous work for others is one of the hallmarks of a life of discipleship.

Our egos demand recognition when we do good, but the Holy Spirit reminds us that our reward is heavenly—not pats on the back, but jewels in our crown. So be encouraged even when it seems that your faithfulness is unnoticed or unappreciated—your Father in heaven knows, and he loves seeing his children humbly doing their part. Keep up the good work—not for the adoration of the crowd, but for the glory of the kingdom.