Pump It Up! Live Elated, Not Deflated Through Disappointing Daysਨਮੂਨਾ

Donkeys in Dinghies

My dinghy days reminded me that Jesus loves to see ordinary people faithfully getting on with the daily grind of ‘donkey-work’, viewing it all as worship to him. A phenomenal example of this was a monk called Brother Lawrence (the book about his life is called ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’). His job - for years - was washing up in the monk’s kitchen. A basic and menial task resulting in especially prune-like digits. With his hands pretty permanently submerged in a basin, he learnt to commune deeply with God. He took delight in knowing he was loved by God and knowing that he could communicate with God constantly through the ordinariness of his daily life and duties. Brother Lawrence believed that we can all do little things for the love of God, and that love, being our motivation, was the important factor in transforming basic jobs into beautiful acts of worship.

In my dinghy, I clung to the example of Brother Lawrence, remembering that faithfulness in the small and seemingly insignificant tasks is extremely important to God. He sees it all and he sees our attitude in how we carry out these tasks too.

My dinghy days reality was unemployment, and I was desperately seeking God for what he wanted me to do next. In the meantime, however, I had countless opportunities every day to reflect God's love to my daughter and my husband, plus a small handful of other people I came into contact with. Donkey work, when done unto God, brings him real joy and makes his heart proud. We must learn to value the beauty of worshiping through our donkey duties.

I had a very cheeky boss called Barry when I worked in a gift shop as a youngster. Barry had a phrase that I’ve never forgotten. If he asked me to do a dull task, I’d say (once my probation period was over!) ‘Why do I get the boring jobs?’ He’d reply, ‘Why have a dog and bark yourself?’ In his defence, it was in good humour and really made me laugh. God, thankfully, does not treat us like little minions as Barry at Clinton’s did with me! But God does want to see what our character and attitude are like behind the scenes. Do we still love and serve him wholeheartedly in the seemingly inconsequential tasks, where there’s no applause or encouragement? Is it enough for us to know that God sees and values all that we do?

Reflection

Pick one donkey duty today and worship your way through it, Brother Lawrence style!