Do Great Things

We all want to do great things with our lives. We want to reach the end of our life and know that we didn’t waste time; we didn’t squander the days and hours we had; we didn’t mosey through life and not really do anything. I love the poem Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is about a king who used to sail and fight and be active and how he longs for that life again. One of my favourite lines is “some work of noble note may yet be done.” Isn’t that how we all feel? We want to do some work of noble note. We want to make our lives count for something. We want to do great things.

But what great thing can we do?

I come from a family of missionaries. My grandparents were missionaries in Ethiopia; my great aunt was in the Philippines; my uncle is in Peru. Growing up I always thought that was the great thing I was destined for – to be a missionary. To take the Word of God to those in rural Africa – to take medicine and love and care – to convert the masses. Now I am almost 30 and I have 2 small children. If God calls me to the mission field of deepest Africa I don’t think it will be soon. I have moments when I feel like I have settled, like I have lost my opportunity for greatness, like I am just a suburban house wife who swapped greatness for mundane.

But I am learning some things about greatness.

My mom was always a housewife. She didn’t finish high school and she was always just Mom. But in 2011 she started a children’s home. Now she has 40 children on site, she employs 20 people, she has started a creche and feeding scheme and has helped over 100 people in different ways. My mom does great things.

My father in law was a civil engineer. He built roads in Malawi; was a wonderful husband and father and he started a company and employed 50 – 70 people. He trained many of them and taught them; he helped with formal qualifications and had a reputation for excellent work. He did great things.

Lois and Eunice in the Bible did great things. They raised their son and grandson. They taught him the things of God and he, Timothy, went on to be an evangelist and preacher and teacher. He also did great things.

Each of these people were different. The great things they did were different. But they all have one thing in common – they did what God asked them to.  What is the greatest thing we can do for God?

Obey.

In 1 Samuel 15 it says “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams”.

If I went to deepest Africa now, it wouldn’t be great – because that is not what I am called to. I am called now to be a suburban housewife and to raise my children well. That might change one day and it might not. My job is not to choose my life’s path but to obediently follow the path God has laid down for me.

Hope you have a GREAT week!