Something Significant

This weekend was amazing. We had a missionary conference at our church, East Cooper Baptist Church, and it was amazing.

During this conference I had the privilege of helping in the children's ministry program where kids ages Kindergarten to 5th grade learned about missions in Thailand. It was a huge blessing to me for a number of reasons, but one in particular. Saturday morning, the second day of the festival, all of us workers for the children's ministry showed up outside the sanctuary. There weren't very many of us; 10 adults or so and a handful of teenagers. I felt minorly excited, but mostly just underwhelmed. For those of you who have seen me on a Backyard VBS high-- trust me, it was nothing like that. During that time I'm enthusiastic, excited, and passionate and ready to tell the children about God. But on Saturday I felt just... normal. I was happy to help out, but that was about it. The night before had been fun, but different than I had expeceted. I guess I felt as if my being there was pointless.

Then Pastor Steve, the children's pastor, said something that shook me. He thanked us all for helping and then remarked about a little girl who had asked him a question; not about Thailand, but about China. She said that she had heard that people in China could only have one child, and she was curious what would happen to the other children. He didn't say how they had answered, but he did say that this little girl was really concerned about that. Who knows how God will use that. He continued on, saying that some of these children may really be impacted by this weekend. Maybe through a craft a child really liked, or through the testimonies, or anything. And maybe the impact might be significant enough to change their lives. And maybe their changed lives will result in the changing of other lives.

That really stuck with me. Later in the day, we were reading 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Don't you love it when God just hits you right in the face with something you needed to hear? No one else would know that's how I was feeling. I didn't tell anyone that I felt useless. But God knew. And so, just at the right time, He told me that my labor in Him is not in vain. NOTHING! Nothing I do for Him in vain. It doesn't say 'only the really big things' it says 'your labor in the Lord is not in vain'! Jesus also said, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Even the littlest, day to day things, if done in Christ's name, are not done in vain. I think there's something really significant about that. I think it's significant enough that it should change how I live my day-to-day life. Do I seek to do even the smallest tasks for God's glory? Do I desire to point to God's grace when I wash the dishes, do my Chemistry homework, play with my younger siblings, and make lunch? It's one thing to say I'm a Christian. But do I shine with the radiance of Christ, first for Him, and only because of Him-- no matter how small or menial the task before me seems?

You will never know the impact that you will have on someone's life unless you let Christ rule your life.

And I think that's pretty significant.