I gave one of my daughters the task of folding towels today. It’s an easy task. It’s an almost daily task when you live in a home with 8 people. It’s a helpful task. You get the picture, lots of laundry and towels. But to her, the task of folding towels was unimportant. It was a waste of time. It was something that she didn’t see the value of because all she could see was herself and what she wanted to do in the moment. And that moment did NOT include towel folding.

Let’s swing over to myself, I am a stay-at-home mom. Our oldest son is 22. Our youngest daughter is 7. I have been a stay at home Mom for 22 years and by God’s grace intend to be for 11 more. I love my job! It’s literally the thing I have most wanted to do in my life; the desire of my heart. But, here’s the thing. I am one sinful human being, much like my daughter. And sometimes, like her, I cannot see the value of what I am doing, because all I can see is what I want to do in the moment. Sometimes, what I want to do in the moment, does not include washing another pile of dirty clothes, or cooking another meal, or working on another school lesson, or folding another towel. Oftentimes, like her, I just want to do what I want to do instead of doing what I’ve been given to do. I think I have the ability to judge what’s important.

Now, let’s go back to the towel folding. So seeing her attitude, her struggle, her lack of motivation to do the job quickly, I joined her in the towel folding. It was a huge pile of towels, 2 full loads. I began to help her fold. We got the whole pile done and put away in about 10 minutes.

When we finished, I said to her, “Don’t you feel good that you did something for the family today! Now, when we take showers tonight, there will be plenty of clean towels. You think this is an unimportant task, but anything that your parents give you to do is important because you don’t see everything that we see. You don’t know everything that we know. You don’t have the ability to judge what is important or not. You just need to do the thing that is given to you the best you can and be faithful.”

And at that moment, it hit me. I was given a moment of clarity. I was not just teaching her. My Father was teaching me. His still small voice was saying to my heart, “Judi, just do the things that I give you to do, faithfully. You don’t have the ability to judge what’s important. You don’t know everything that I know. Trust me. You are helping your family. Obedience grows your faith and your trust in me.”

Y’all, don’t you love it that God meets you in the everydayness of life? Just like I don’t have the ability to judge the importance of the task,  I don’t have the ability to judge what moments God will use. I don’t know what tasks God has given you today. You may be a stay-at-home mom, like me. You may have a full-time job and be a mom. You may be single, married, widowed, young, old or in between. I don’t know. But I do know this, if you’re a Christian, God has given you tasks and talents according to His providential will.

He has put you in a particular place at a particular time around particular people. So look for opportunities to serve Him, but rest your thoughts in this; do the thing He has given you to do today, faithfully. Know this, you don’t have the ability to judge what’s important. He has given you your tasks. He knows all things. He is faithful.

And here I thought, I was just folding towels.