God’s Workmanship - Encouragement Café - August 7, 2015

God’s Workmanship

Café Menu for Friday, August 7, 2015

Today’s Special is: Celebration of the Ordinary!

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Dawn Neely

Main Ingredient:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we could walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 NASB

Entree:

I have my devotions early each morning.  Someone once told me waiting to have one’s devotions at the end of the day is like trying to play in the orchestra without tuning one’s instrument.  Somehow that made sense to me.

One particular morning, I read Ephesians 2:10.  I loved the fact that God called me His workmanship, created for good works, which He had already prepared for me to do!  God is the Ultimate Planner!

I meditated on that verse throughout the day.  I thought about what this day might hold for me.  What had God prepared for me to do?  What great adventure lay ahead and what great opportunity was part of God’s plan?

I somehow interpreted that verse to mean there would be a great revelation that day or a moment that would highlight God’s workmanship in my life.  But as the day drew on, whatever glory I was expecting to come my way did not materialize.

It was an ordinary day.  A day where I did laundry, washed dishes, prepared meals, rearranged the dust on my furniture and picked up my children at school.  I taught children’s choir and picked up my husband’s dry cleaning.  

Wait!  Was this what God wanted me to do this day?  Was carrying out what I considered ordinary tasks part of what God designed me to do?  I wanted a greater task, but then, being there for my family was the best task.

How easy it was for me to get caught up in my own importance without realizing the blessings of what was right before my eyes.  A day where God depended on me to do my tasks with gladness.  There were no bouquets for being on time at school to get the girls or awards from Good Housekeeping for a clean floor.  But there was that still small voice at the end of the day as my head hit the pillow that whispered, “Well done!”

I still welcome each day with anticipation.  I wonder what each day will hold.  Some days God plans for me to teach a Bible study.  Some days God plans for me to meet someone that needs a word of encouragement or a shoulder on which to lean.  

But most days are replete with the tasks that bring little recognition and seem quite mundane.  On those days, I seek to remember that God prepared me for this good work too and that it is significant and purposeful.

Take Out:

Deep within our nature is a desire to have a real and significant purpose in life.  We want to live productively for God and bear fruit for His kingdom.  What greater achievement can we have than to raise our children in the Lord?  What else can bring the joy of having a home where your family is loved and cared for in obedience to God’s commands?  While looking for gratification for ourselves from others, let us focus on the ultimate compliment—pleasing God.

Dessert:

Dear Father,

It is easy to get caught up in what the world considers success.  But the secret to happiness is remarkably simple, yet it requires discipline.  You promised when we would abide in You, that we will bear much fruit.  That requires spending time in Your Word and yielding myself closely and completely to You.  Help me to look to You for my completion.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2015 by Dawn Neely.  All rights reserved.

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