With amazing regularity, “Old Faithful” in Yellowstone National Park spews thousands of gallons of boiling water high into the air. It is said that various geysers in the area go higher, but they aren’t as predictable in their regularity. As stewards of the grace of God, we too should always “be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). We are not called to be successful, affluent, glamorous, or profoundly intellectual. But we are required to live with grace, steadfastness and faithfulness.
In 1948 my paternal grandmother suffered a stroke which left her paralyzed from the waist down. In the years which she lived following her initial stroke, she many times suffered excruciating pain. As a lad, I recall visiting her and hearing her literally scream because of the intensity of the pain. During the 15-plus years which she lived following her 1948 stroke, Grandpa faithfully tended her and ministered to her needs around the clock! A hospital bed was set up in the dining room of their home, and on the carpet around the bed was worn a path. As one year melted into another, the carpet around the bed became thinner and thinner as Grandpa faithfully continued to stand by the “until death do us part” vow he had made many years previously. The threadbare carpet around Grandma’s bed has always spoken to me of Grandpa’s complete devotion and faithfulness to the one whom he loved!
In the same light, each of us as believers in Jesus Christ is called to routine faithfulness…the sewing-machine operator who constantly sits in the factory.. the watchman who makes his rounds in the darkness of the night…the mother who labors day after day with diapers and dishes and runny noses. . .the stenographer who types one letter after another. . .the dairy farmer who is tied down to milking cows seven days a week. . .the salesman as he makes call after call. . .the nurse who makes her rounds from bedside to bedside…the billing clerk who processes an endless train of invoices.
It’s far more important for us to gird ourselves for the grind of life than it is to throw ourselves into high gear only for the grandiose affairs of life. A kind spirituality can be seen on parade, but the kind God wants is cultivated and practiced consistently and persistently in the routine of life. Be thou faithful!