Truth Never Changes
Rearranging is fun.
When I rearrange I always seem to find some old treasure.
Recently it was a book. Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest.
One of those classics that you just keep going back to because it always seems to be relevant. (Even though its original publication date was 1935.)
The pages of my copy are crumpled, like I spilled something on it. Dozens of corners are turned down. Magic marker, pen, pencil are scrawled on nearly every page. It’s so old my maiden name is written on the cover in bubbly high school penmanship. (It was a gift from my church when I graduated. From high school. In 1991. You do the math. I’m old.)
And all I did was flip to the current date to look at the brief entry and I was instantly reminded of why my copy of this enduring little book looks so well-worn.
On twitter just the other day I described my life as “trench-y”. And if your primary day-to-day functions have ever involved loads of laundry, Cheerio-crumbed floors, spit up on all your attire, whines from your children after nearly every directive and a daily lunch menu of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side of banana, then you probably already know what “trench-y” feels like.
So here’s what this now-deceased gentleman had to say about “trench-y” (Yeah, he calls it drudgery, but I know what he means.) . . .
. . . Whenever God inspires, the initiative is a moral one. We must do the thing and not lie like a log. If we will arise and shine, drudgery becomes divinely transfigured.
Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal – the utterly mean, grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real. Read John 13. We see the Incarnate God doing the most desperate piece of drudgery, washing fishermen’s feet, and he says – “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” It requires the inspiration of God to go through drudgery with the light of God upon it. Some people do a certain thing and the way in which they do it hallows that thing for ever afterwards. It may be the most commonplace thing, but after we have seen them do it, it becomes different. When the Lord does a thing through us, He always transfigures it. Our Lord took on Him human flesh and transfigured it, and it has become for every saint the temple of the Holy Ghost.
You know, I love the idea that God can transform drudgery (trench-y) into beauty. How Every Day of Him.
And I love that God knew I would need His inspiration to handle the Every Day of my life in this season. It takes inspiration to not sigh audibly and loudly when Fox pulls a box of Cheerios on top of his lap.
And I love the idea that commonplace tasks can be made different, beautiful even, when they are completed in love.
So I am really glad I rearranged our bedroom furniture this weekend.
Really glad I found my little battered maroon and gold-covered copy of Chamber’s classic tome of truth.
Really glad that the powers that be at Franklin Heights Baptist Church gave the 1991 graduates a book most of us would never have purchased with our own baby-sitting cash.
And mostly, I am really glad that God’s truth never changes.
And that when I have that truth revealed to me at 18 or 25 or 36, I cannot help but be changed by its power.
15 Comments
Funtoosh
This is my first visit here, but I will be back soon, because I really like the way you are writing, it is so simple and honest
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nikkie
i'm a couple years older and i have the LARGE print edition. sounds scary. love me some Chambers and my morning coffee. and i love the day he talks about 'drudgery.' i had some of the same thoughts.
great post.
abbey
Thank you for that post. I needed to read that. After two ER trips to Franklin Memorial, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. THis quote: "Drudgery is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal" rings very true for most of my life. My life my not be ideal – but its God's plan. And even though I don't understand it, I have to keep doing what God wants me to do. It doesn't make it easy. And I am sure by tomorrow I will forget that again.
LaceyKeigley
Isn't it funny too – how someone else looking at your life from this side would think that what you are doing is clearly a beautiful, self-sacrificing act of love?
Because I think you are amazing – and you are taking care of those two little fellows and your daughter with such love and grace.
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LaceyKeigley
Let's see – 1996 – I would have been a newlywed and I guess we didn't go to Franklin Heights then. But we would have been around at some point – how funny. And to think . . . our paths could have been crossing. How bizarre is that?
Stacy Finnigan
Oh gosh. Mmmm…Approximately from 1996 to 2000 or 2001?
Stacy Finnigan
Funny connection time: When the family and I lived in Franklin County, we went to Franklin Heights for many years…I think from my 2nd grade to 6th or 7th grade…
And my copy is teal and gold…switched it up for the new millenium I guess…
laceykeigley
That IS funny – what years would that have been? (I could do the math myself but asking you is so much simpler.)
Gretchen
Mine is pink, with my maiden name too. Yes, I too got mine for my high school graduation from my church….University Baptist in Middletown, Ohio. I keep mine by my toilet and read often from it! It is good and what an awesome reminder! Love it! Thanks for sharing it with me! (and lots of others!) Maggie calls it "mom"……I guess it's mom's ! Thankfully God put Jesus on this earth so that when we are struggling He knows exactly how we feel. Thanks for the encouragement in the times of drudgery!
laceykeigley
I actually remember seeing your copy when we were at your house!! (Mine’s in the same location!)
Kevin Keigley
I remember that book. That was THE devotional to read in college. It was so handy — small, with its gold leaf printing on the cover. I got mine because everyone else had one.
I am glad you change things up in our house…
laceykeigley
I’m glad you enjoy the rearrangements – it would be sad if you did not!
@DavidBuckner
Based on this, you might have to change the name of your blog again.
"So (Beautiful) Every Day"