Are You Faithful Over the Little Things?

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'” Matthew 25:23

Faithful.

Are you longing for something new?

Maybe you are stuck in a small apartment right now, and you just wish that you had a better place to live. If you are saying to yourself that if only your outward circumstances were a little more favorable, it would be easier to be who you wanted to be.

If you had a better house it might be easier to keep clean.

How about –if your kids were bigger it would be easier to be organized.

Or if you lived in a different place it would be easier to find a good church and to serve.

I wanted to write this article because it’s been on my mind for around 10 years!

Let me tell you a little story…

A new wife moved all her belongings into a small trailer with her new husband.

This girl was known by her family to be sort of a pack rat. But her mother made her take all her junk with her to her small new home.

In the back of this girl’s mind…she was going to resolve to not be so messy in her new environment. It was a new start.

Well, between working weird hours and being tired, the housework didn’t do itself. There were a lot of excuses.

She realized that it was indeed her job to make sure the towels were washed.

She was the one that had to clean the sink. No magical fairy swooped in and did anything for her.

Well, things began to pile up.

Then after about a year and a half, it was almost time to move again to their permanent home which was considerably larger.

A little bit before it was moving day, she looked around and realized she wasn’t worthy of a new clean place!

She couldn’t even keep a tiny little mobile home clean, how in the world would something bigger make anything better?

The Parable of the Talents

I know this parable that Jesus told is not exactly talking about keeping house.

But since that day I thought of this verse in relation to my circumstances, it’s stuck with me.

I came to the realization on my own that if I could not be faithful to care for a small thing, why did I think I would change with a bigger space?

Sometimes we’re forced to change based on new circumstances. For instance, sometimes we’re not necessarily ready to become a mama, but there’s not much we can do about it once the baby comes! That job is suddenly ours, and we can’t neglect it.

Other, less crucial things, are what I’m talking about. Things that we can easily make excuses for. Maybe it is parenting!

Let’s stop and evaluate our situations through the lens of this parable.

Am I Making Excuses?

I’m going to continue with my example of the young wife in the story I told earlier. In case you didn’t guess it, that girl was me. (haha)

It dawned on me that I would have to come to terms with myself. That I was in charge of my home and I had to take ownership of the housework.

Whether it’s your home, your kids, or your time–we need to learn this:

Be Faithful in the Little

If we are living in a small house with limited space and our lives are chaotic because there’s no room for anything…we’re going to have to learn to steward the space we have.

That might look like throwing stuff away and finding different methods of organization.

If we complain that we don’t have enough time in our day to cook…we need to take control and steward the time we do have. Make room to learn new processes of cooking healthy meals quickly.

Maybe it’s the excuse that if only my kids were older, my life wouldn’t be so crazy. I want to encourage this mama to put new systems to the test, maybe lighten outside commitments, and focus on a few foundational things that are important to your family.

For me, I needed to learn that I have to take care of what I got.

It’s Not Over

Personally, for me, right now, I could still be using this excuse. (And sometimes I do.)

I want more counterspace. (I need to learn how to store the stuff on the counters so I’ll have more room.)

The carpet is gross so I want something new. (Work harder at keeping it clean and it won’t feel so gross.)

I don’t have time to read. (Get off the apps on the phone and *poof* there is time.)

Many of my posts have the same themes of a little tough love…and I think we definitely need that sometimes! I definitely don’t need my husband petting me and giving in to my whining about why I can’t perform my daily tasks well. That’s something I need a kick in the pants for.

So what about you? Does this resonate with anyone or just me?

Let’s be faithful stewards of the things we have. Focus on the things we have available. It’s called contentment and hard work to keep our lives flowing peacefully.

We need a little more faithfulness and a little less Pinterest board envy…right?

Then maybe when we have come to the point where we get more counter space and new floors…we will remember how we lived before such luxuries. And appreciate them more!

For more articles like this, see the Homemaking section.