I’m loving this quote by Oswald Chambers regarding 2 Peter 1:5 and drudgery. Drudgery is not something we look forward to or embrace, especially in this entertainment-craved culture we’re living in.
It’s kind of a funny word, isn’t it? Drudgery. The word means hard, menial, unpleasant, boring, or dull work. Ho-hum!
But drudgery is a part of life. And it can be a good thing.
In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits. We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits—we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for the big things to do. Yet, “Jesus…took a towel and….began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).
We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with it’s common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration, which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God. –Oswald Chambers
Drudgery is okay. It’s okay if we don’t hear the audible voice of God every day. If we don’t see visions and have dreams every day.
Relationship with God isn’t only about spectacular experiences. We can have those, and they’re good. But…..relationship is a day-after-day, feeling-or-no-feeling, habitual fellowship in the Word and in prayer with the One who formed us.
And some days, that can be awfully quiet. It can be downright boring. Some days I don’t even write in my journal!
It’s okay if we don’t have a Mt. of Transfiguration experience every single day. In fact, Jesus only had that once in His life. Only once in His thirty-three and a half years did He see anything like that.
White-water rafting can be fun and exciting, but you can’t live there. He doesn’t lead us down the rapids to restore our souls. We need green pastures and still waters for that. Boring. Drudgery.
“The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for the big things to do.”
Letter writing can be drudgery. We don’t do much of that anymore. It’s all electronic now. Emails. Instant Messages. Texts. But I’m sure glad that the apostle Paul went ahead with the menial drudgery of writing letters to all the churches. He wasn’t out doing miracles and experience the power of God in a tangible way. It wasn’t spectacular. Not at all. But where would we be without the truths contained in them?
Don’t disdain the little things. The unexciting things. The things that are dull and not spectacular. Instead, “learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.” Embrace the drudgery. It’s where we grow.