Inside: God is at work in the ordinary moments of life, using them for His glory and to make us more like Christ.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Most of our lives aren’t lived in extraordinary moments. They’re lived in ordinary ones.

We spend our days making meals, unloading the dishwasher, answering emails, paying bills, driving children where they need to be, caring for aging parents, opening our homes to others, cleaning bathrooms, and all the other responsibilities that come with everyday life.

Because these are the things we do day after day, it’s easy to overlook their significance. No one applauds us for changing another load of laundry or preparing another meal, and before long we can begin to think what we’re doing doesn’t really matter.

As I was writing Homemaking Matters, I found myself coming back to this truth again and again. Whether I was writing about hospitality, mentoring other women, resting in Christ’s sufficiency, or learning to choose joy and gratitude, I kept seeing the same theme throughout Scripture: God never views our ordinary days as insignificant.

I know this truth, but I can be quick to forget it. It’s so easy to become focused on the work before me that I lose sight of what God is accomplishing through it.

Yet Scripture tells us something entirely different.

The Lord isn’t only at work in the big moments of our lives. He’s also at work in the ordinary ones. In fact, it’s often in those everyday moments that He’s doing some of His greatest work in us.

Our days matter—not because the work itself is extraordinary, but because we serve an extraordinary God who is using them for His glory and our good.

---

Listen to the Podcast (17 minutes) or read the post below (21 minutes):

---

Much of Our Ministry Takes Place at Home

One of the passages that has encouraged me most over the years is Titus 2:3–5. Paul doesn’t separate what we believe from how we live. Sound doctrine is meant to shape our everyday lives. The gospel changes not only what we believe but how we live in our homes each day.

Before Paul tells older women what they are to teach, he first describes the kind of women they are to be. Our lives give weight to our words. Godly teaching flows from a godly life.

When we hear the word ministry, our minds often go to serving at church, teaching a Bible study, sharing the gospel, or going on a mission trip. The Lord certainly uses us in those ways, and we should be faithful in every opportunity He gives us. But Titus 2 broadens our understanding of ministry. It reminds us that much of our ministry takes place closer to home.

Paul tells older women to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, kind, and working at home. Those aren’t secondary responsibilities or things we do until “real ministry” begins. They are part of God’s beautiful design for women and one of the primary places where our faith is lived out.

There isn’t much recognition for another meal prepared or another load of laundry folded. No one applauds us for cleaning a bathroom or picking up toys for the hundredth time.

Paul wasn’t giving women a list of insignificant household duties. He was showing us where much of faithful Christian living takes place.

Loving our families usually isn’t expressed in grand gestures. More often it’s seen in preparing another meal, caring for the home He’s given us, opening our doors in hospitality, sitting beside a hurting child, encouraging our husbands, or praying for our families as we go through the responsibilities that fill our days.

These are some of the ways we love and serve the people God has placed in our lives.

It’s also important to remember that homemaking itself isn’t our identity. Christ is our identity. Homemaking is one of the places where we have the privilege of living out our love for Christ.

As we go about the work God has given us to do, we’re putting into practice what Paul teaches in Titus 2. We don’t have to look somewhere else to find ways to honor Christ. As we love and care for those He has placed in our lives, we’re serving Him right where He has us.

Whatever You Do, Do It for the Lord

One passage the Lord has used often in my life is Colossians 3. It reminds me no part of my day falls outside His care.

Paul writes:

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Colossians 3:17

A few verses later he says:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

Colossians 3:23

Then we hear the same reminder again in 1 Corinthians 10:31:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

I love that phrase, whatever you do. God doesn’t divide our lives into “important” work and “ordinary” work. He simply says, whatever you do.

Those words include cooking dinner, washing dishes, paying the bills, running errands, driving children where they need to be, caring for aging parents, opening our doors in hospitality, and all the other responsibilities that fill our days.

These verses also remind me who I’m really working for. I know how easy it is to get caught up in checking things off my list or feeling like I’ve had a productive day because I accomplished a lot. But God doesn’t measure faithfulness that way.

Whether I’m making dinner, answering emails, recording a podcast, or serving at church, I need the reminder that I’m serving Christ. It’s so easy to lose sight of that in the middle of a busy day.

The dishes still have to be washed. Dinner still has to be made. There will always be another task waiting. But instead of seeing those things as interruptions or chores to simply get through, I can receive them as part of the work the Lord has given me to do today. They’re opportunities to love my family, serve others, and honor Him.

When I remember who I’m working for, I begin asking a different question. Instead of thinking, Do I have to do this again? I can ask, Lord, how can I honor You as I do this today?

For those of us who are in Christ, there is no divide between the sacred and the secular. Every part of life belongs to Him, and every part of life can be lived for His glory.

Faithful Stewards

Another reminder that has helped me over the years is that everything I have belongs to the Lord.

It’s easy to think of our home as our home and the things in it as our possessions. Yet everything we have has come from Him. He’s the One who has provided our home, our family, and the resources we use each day. None of it really belongs to us. We are simply caring for what He has given us.

The dishes in the sink, the meals to prepare, and the bills to pay aren’t simply chores to finish. They’re part of faithfully caring for what God has given me.

Paul reminds us, “It is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). That verse reminds me God hasn’t called me to manage someone else’s life or someone else’s calling. He has simply called me to be faithful where He has placed me.

Instead of wondering whether our work matters or looking for something bigger to do, let’s simply be faithful with what the Lord has already placed in our hands today.

God Is at Work in Us

One of the greatest encouragements to me is remembering that the Lord isn’t only accomplishing something through the work He’s given me to do. He’s also accomplishing something in me.

Romans 8:28 is familiar to many of us, but Paul tells us what that “good” is in the very next verse. God’s purpose isn’t simply to make our lives easier or more comfortable. His purpose is to make us more like Christ (Romans 8:29).

That includes the interruptions we didn’t plan for, the long to-do lists, the sleepless nights with little ones, the appointments with aging parents, and the conversations we never expected to have. None of those moments are outside His loving care. He’s using them to shape us into the likeness of His Son.

Even when it feels like I’ve done nothing significant, the Lord is still at work. As He teaches me patience, kindness, humility, and perseverance, He’s accomplishing something far greater than helping me finish another day’s work. He’s making me more like Jesus.

The Bible calls this sanctification. Little by little, God is conforming us to the image of His Son. That work doesn’t happen only during our quiet time or while we’re sitting in church on Sunday morning. It often happens while we’re washing dishes, caring for our families, responding to interruptions, and faithfully serving in the responsibilities He has given us.

When I find myself becoming impatient or grumbling about the work before me, I need to remember the Lord is doing something much bigger than helping me finish my to-do list. He’s using those very moments to make me more like His Son.

When Daily Life Reveals Our Hearts

Those same moments also reveal what’s going on in our hearts.

Most of us don’t wake up planning to be impatient or to complain. Yet it doesn’t take much for those attitudes to show themselves. An unexpected interruption, a change in our plans, or one more responsibility added to an already full day can quickly reveal what is going on inside.

I’ve found the ordinary responsibilities of life have a way of exposing my heart. They remind me how much I still need the Lord’s work in my own life.

The good news is that God doesn’t reveal those things to leave us discouraged. He lovingly shows us what needs to change because He is continuing His work in us.

Romans 12 reminds us to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The Christian life isn’t simply about changing our behavior. Little by little, God changes us from the inside out as our minds are renewed by His Word.

We ask Him to give us a thankful heart when we’d rather complain, to help us serve with joy instead of resentment, and to keep renewing our minds through His Word.

I often think of the Lord Jesus on the night before His crucifixion. Knowing all that lay before Him, He wrapped a towel around Himself and washed the feet of His disciples. The One who deserved to be served chose instead to serve.

Whenever I begin thinking a task is beneath me, I remember my Savior kneeling to wash dirty feet. His example reminds me that no act of loving service done for the glory of God is ever beneath one of His children.

Redeeming the Moments God Has Given Us

Tomorrow morning the dishes will still be waiting. There will be meals to prepare, errands to run, people to care for, and work that needs to be done.

None of those things are going away, but by God’s grace we can begin to look at them differently.

Something I’ve had to remind myself of over the years is that there are two things that are eternal—God’s Word and people’s souls. Remembering that changes how I think about the responsibilities that fill my day.

Instead of letting my mind wander or giving in to grumbling, I can pray while I wash dishes, give thanks while I prepare a meal, pray for a friend as I drive, or ask that our home would be a place where Christ is honored as I straighten it before guests arrive.

Moments like these become opportunities to set our minds on things that will last for eternity.

Hide God’s Word in your heart as you go about your day. Memorize one verse each week. Listen to Scripture or a sermon while you’re working around the house. Fill your mind with God’s truth because He uses His Word to renew our minds and shape our hearts.

You don’t need hours of uninterrupted time to do this. You simply need a heart that is looking for opportunities to redeem the moments He has already given you.

The work itself may not look any different, but He’s still using those moments to do His work in us.

One of the sweetest gifts of our ordinary days is knowing that God is at work in them.

Our Purpose Is Found in Christ

Don’t look outside the life God has given you to find your purpose.

Our culture tells us that significance is found in being noticed, accomplishing something big, or receiving the praise of others. But the Lord measures our lives very differently. Your purpose isn’t found in homemaking, and it isn’t found in having a perfectly kept home. Your purpose is found in Christ. Homemaking is one of the places where we have the privilege of loving Him and serving the people He has entrusted to us.

The season may change, but the calling remains the same. Be faithful where the Lord has placed you. Never forget, God is using these days for His glory, for the good of those you love, and for your own sanctification. He’s accomplishing far more than you can see.

The next time you’re standing at the kitchen sink, cooking another meal, driving someone where they need to be, or welcoming a friend through your front door, remember the Lord is at work. He’s using those moments to bring glory to Himself and to make you more like Christ.

As I was finishing Homemaking Matters, I realized this truth had found its way into nearly every chapter. God is at work in the ordinary days He has given us. That’s where most of life is lived, and it’s where He is faithfully at work making us more like Christ.

As Paul Tripp writes:

“If God doesn’t rule your mundane, then He doesn’t rule you. Because that’s where you live.”

I love that reminder because most of life really is lived in those mundane moments. We don’t have to do extraordinary things to honor the Lord. We simply need to be faithful in the work He’s given us today.

My prayer is that the next time you’re preparing another meal, driving someone across town, answering another email, or cleaning up after dinner, you’ll remember that the Lord is at work. He’s using those moments to bring glory to Himself and to make you more like Christ.

Be faithful where He has placed you today. Jesus truly is enough always.

Frequently Asked Questions:

You Might Also Enjoy:

• EP 189: What Does It Mean to Be the Aroma of Christ? (2 Corinthians 2:14–16)
• When the Days are Overwhelming
• EP 181: Biblically Communicating With Our Children
• Homemaking Matters: Why the Work You Do at Home Matters to God
• Faithful Labor in Prayer: Learning from Epaphras’s example