Fall 2020

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As the summer sun fades, your mind is likely abuzz
with thoughts of the coming school year. Maybe
they are enthusiastic and exciting thoughts. Maybe
they are anxious and overwhelming thoughts. Probably,
they are a mix of both.
Regardless of what feelings your thoughts invoke, I want
to remind you that God is faithful to bless work offered up
to Him. The work you do (i.e., the lesson plans, the laun-
dry, the sports practices, the meals, the music lessons, the
muddy-shoe-strewn entry) doesn’t have to be perfectly ac-
complished, but, rather, rightly offered: offered as a sweet-
smelling sacrifice and offered in faith.
But first, we must be sure we are busy about the right
kind of work (for not all work is ours to do). How do we know
what is the right work for us? If you aremarried, God has giv-
en you a husband to guide and direct you in this very thing.
Ask your husband what work he would have you pursue.
Then take his answer as your direction from the Lord. For
example, perhaps you’d like to prioritize cleaning, but your
husband would prefer you prioritize home-made meals.
In this case, your marching orders are home-made meals.
(Note: there are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Unfortu-
nately, I haven’t the space to expound here.) Doing the right
kind of work may not always be as satisfying to you, but you
can bet your bottom dollar God will bless and use it.
Now that we are clear on our direction, we must consider
how we are offering up our work: as a sweet-smelling sac-
rifice. A sweet-smelling sacrifice isn’t one carried out with
complaining voices, unkind words, or whiny attitudes. It
isn’t offered up begrudgingly or mindlessly. It is offered up
with joy, with persistence, and with prayer. For we know
that “unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it
labor in vain” (Psalm 127). If you are faithful to obey God in
little ways every day, your sacrifice will indeed be a sweet-
smelling one.
Finally, let us not forget to offer up our sacrifice in faith. Do
not doubt that the work to which God has called you (per-
fect or imperfect as it may be) will be used for His glory. For
isn’t this what the patriarchs believed? Hebrews 11 tells of
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and others who, after obedi-
ently accomplishing the work given them,“…all died in faith,
not having received the things promised, but having seen
them and greeted them from afar.”Your work may yield simi-
larly distant fruit, but never cease offering it up in faith.
So go offer up your work, FellowMama, with joy and exu-
berance. It will not be wasted. It will not prove fruitless. He
who called you is faithful.
Soli Deo Gloria
“This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift.
Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I maymake
to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him.
Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job,
not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot
Morning by Morning
BY LAUREN JOHNSON