Holy Wit — A Word Along the Way The Ministry of Showing Up There are mornings when the Christian life feels noble and purposeful. We rise with every intention of praying faithfully, reading Scripture carefully, encouraging the discouraged, feeding the hungry, forgiving our enemies, and perhaps understanding one of the minor prophets before breakfast. Then the kettle refuses to work. The dog brings something unpleasant into the house. A child cannot find one shoe. The electricity disappears. Someone telephones with a problem that began three years ago but has suddenly become urgent. By midday, our noble spiritual program has been reduced to finding the missing shoe and preventing the dog from eating it. It is easy to think that real Christian service happens somewhere else. Surely it happens in pulpits, mission fields, prayer meetings, hospitals, and places where people speak in quiet voices and nobody is carrying a leaking rubbish bag. Yet much of the Christian life consists simply of showing up. Showing up when someone needs to be heard. Showing up when there is no applause. Showing up when the work is ordinary, the room is hot, and the person we are helping has already told us the same story four times. Paul wrote: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” — Colossians 3:23, NKJV “Whatever you do” is a remarkably broad phrase. It includes preaching sermons, certainly. But it also includes washing dishes, keeping promises, answering patiently, repairing what is broken, visiting the lonely, caring for ageing parents, and resisting the temptation to explain to everyone how much more sensible the world would be if we were in charge of it. We often imagine faithfulness as something dramatic. Usually, it is not. Faithfulness is returning tomorrow. It is praying again after yesterday’s prayer seemed to receive no answer. It is opening the Bible when our mind feels dull. It is doing good without checking every few minutes to see whether anyone has noticed. The world celebrates people who arrive with trumpets. The kingdom of God is often served by people who arrive with a broom. Jesus did not only teach crowds. He noticed individuals. He welcomed children. He touched lepers. He washed feet. He gave His attention to people whom others had learned to overlook. We will not save the world. Christ has already taken responsibility for that. Our task is smaller and, in some ways, harder: to be faithful in the place where God has put us today. Perhaps this week will not contain a grand spiritual victory. Perhaps there will be no remarkable testimony, no sudden breakthrough, and no moment when heavenly light shines through the window while music plays softly in the background. Perhaps there will only be work to do, people to love, prayers to pray, and one missing shoe. That is enough. Show up. Do the next faithful thing. And do not underestimate what God can accomplish through a willing servant carrying a broom. Luke 16:10 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16%3A10&version=NKJV Galatians 6:9–10 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6%3A9-10&version=NKJV