Earlier in the summer you met the newest JP Ministries mission partners – Nick and Sofia Audas. Nick and Sofia are recent college grads who see the need to reach college students with the gospel. (Click here to read their story). In today’s post, Nick will answer one of our readers questions – “Are the mundane parts of life significant to God?” If you have a question that you would like answered here on the blog, comment below or tweet them to @joypedrow. xoxo Joy
I have often encountered, in these short few years I’ve spent in full-time ministry, a strange reality that has been challenging to understand and accept. I spend so much energy and creative thought on the Great Commission. I want to see people, everyone, everywhere, begin a real relationship with Jesus. He’s all that matters.
But all this thinking and planning and acting towards what I consider to be eternally significant purposes – and yet, so much (most, in fact) of my life feels…normal. Boring. Wasted. Insignificant. When I wake up and brush my teeth and drink that first cup of coffee, when I follow my favorite sports blogs, or catch the end of an NBA game, when I watch Netflix with my wife, or when I grocery shop – these things don’t feel weighty, don’t feel as if they have any importance in God’s great plans.
And what about the times when it doesn’t seem like my hard work is “paying off”?
These emotions manifest themselves in many ways overtime. They turn men and women into workaholics (or other types of -holics), they lead to midlife crises, they engender depression and restlessness. This affliction, this reality: while movies, books, and everyone else’s Facebook feeds are so action-packed, so very full of meaningful moments, why do I feel like most of what I do…doesn’t matter?
As a Christ follower, I’ve realized it’s crucial for me to deal with this question, and to figure out how God views significance, so that in the slow, tough, boring, slug-it-out times in our ministry we aren’t tempted to abandon what God has called us to.
How quickly we begin to look at life this way! As if it was a series of space-fillers until our next big moment. We want to edit out all the normal. But hold on – why would God create us in such a way that most of our lives consist of a series of tiny, seemingly meaningless moments, with a few major ones spread out over years and years?
Because they matter to Him! They aren’t tiny at all, not to a God who calls every undiscovered star in the furthest reaches of the universe by name, not to a God who knows when every sparrow falls from the tree, who carefully and wonderfully creates and sustains every atom, every creature and every human being. Every part of Creation matters to the Creator. He wants it to exist, causes it to exist, and keeps it existing.
There is no such thing as wasted space. God is more intimately acquainted with your most forgettable moments than you can imagine; all you steps and all your actions.
Over the course of the last several thousand years, billions of people have experienced life in this universe, and yet “history” remembers almost none of them. Does this mean that in God’s eyes, only the handful of people who had some sort of public impact lived lives of true significance? Obviously, no. But what then?
What does it mean for me to lead a life of eternal significance? It means we honor God in the things He’s given us big or small.
To love my wife every day, to invest deeply in my marriage. When I have kids someday, to invest deeply in their lives as well. It means that in my ministry, I delve deeply into the lives of the students God puts in front of me, whether that be 2 or 2000. It means that I pray and long for God to use me for His glory; I pray for a revival on the college campus and I ask Him to lead thousands to faith in Him. And that whether those prayers are answered in the exact way I want, I work hard and faithfully according to that which I’ve been given, and rest deeply that He is in control.
It means realizing that life is really about enjoying Christ in all things, small and large.
Will you help support Nick and Sofia?
Nick and Sofia need people to support them through prayer and financial giving. If you feel called to give, check out their website here. If you would like to talk with Nick or Sofia for more information, here is their info – Contact Us! Lastly, if you would like to subscribe to their prayer letter click here.
For further study on satisfaction and significance in life, read the wildly successful, rich, and powerful King Solomon’s perspective in Ecclesiastes 1-3.
