On Hidden Work and Faithful Service

Bulbs in the fall don't look like much. Do you ever feel like a tulip bulb? Down in the trenches? Tucked away in the dark and damp and forgotten?

Do you ever wonder what you have to contribute when you are—"just" caring for the home, the family, folding laundry, cooking soup? Have you heard the world whisper that your life is wasted, tucked up as you are, with no big job title?

What the World Tells Us

The world has told us that our worth comes from doing all the "really important things." Things that everyone sees. They tell us that we ought to have a degree and initials attached to our name. The world has told us that to be worthy we must hustle and hurry and be seen and above all, never stop.

But that is a lie.

The Work of Winter

I planted hundreds of bulbs over the last few weeks. I dug down deep and added compost. I carefully placed each bulb and heaped it with damp dark soil. Then I watered them. Cold and damp they lie there. Winter is setting in. There they stay. For the next couple of months a visitor to my garden wouldn't think much of it. Some dead-looking plants and mounds of dark earth covered in leaves.

But the truth is, I put all those bulbs in the ground, in the dark, in the cold and expect them to do a very important job through all this long winter. I expect them to grow deep long roots. I expect them to prepare themselves. Why? Because I know that only by doing their uncomfortable unseen work now, will they be ready to send up flowers in the spring.

The One Who Sees

And my friend, know that there is One who sees and knows. He is the one who has set the tasks before you. He delights in your faithfulness, even when no one else sees.

The world doesn't always acknowledge the worthiness of the calling of being a wife, a mother, of keeping a home and making a place of sanctuary for husbands and children and grandchildren—a respite for a friend who needs shelter from the storm, a cup of coffee, a cozy chair and a shoulder to lean on.

But one day, you will know that your Lord was watching. As you, like the faithful servant in Matthew 25:23, hear your Savior say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."

A Book of Remembrance

I love the words of J.C. Ryle in his Advent devotional:

"They will find that their labour has not been wasted in the Lord's service. They will discover to their amazement that their Master's eye saw more beauty in their efforts to please Him than they ever saw themselves. They will find that every hour spent in Christ's service and every word spoken on Christ's behalf has been written in a book of remembrance.

Let believers remember these things and take courage. The cross may be heavy now, but the glorious reward will make amends for all. Here some drops of joy may enter into us, but there we shall enter into joy."

Your Calling Is Great

And so we carry on, though the labors seem tiresome or thankless. Even when it feels like we are alone in the dark. Each and every day we are in the service of our King and what we do matters to him. We have been given the privilege of caring for his people and of being used for his eternal purposes. Our service may seem small at times, but our calling is great!

So if you are feeling down in the deep dark and unseen, maybe you are a tulip. Maybe you were put in that trench on purpose by One who knows you have an important job to do. Those dishes that you need to go wash? The floor that needs mopped—again? The soup that you have to go start? The teen that needs to talk long into the night, while your body begs for sleep? These are the little roots that one day will produce beautiful flowers.

A tulip bulb planted in the warm spring sunshine might feel more comfortable. But it will never flower.

So grow those roots my friend. I can't wait to see all the spring flowers. 

Do you know someone who is discouraged in the dark? Would you share this with her?