Georgia: Beauty in the mundane

My time in Savannah so far has been filled to the brim with new experiences, new restaurants, new places and even seeing a couple of celebrities. I am in awe of all that I have had the blessing in doing the past several weeks. However, sometimes it hasn’t been all that glamorous.

Brianna ChildsAlthough my personality drives me to desire to go and do and never stop every second of the day, God is continuing to remind me there is surely beauty in it all—from the mundane to the hilltop moments.

My responsibilities at work recently have included sorting through donated clothes at the store, participating in a meeting and taking one of our sweet residents to the dentist’s office. Even though it doesn’t rank so highly on the glamour scale, I am learning it certainly brings glory to God anyway.

God is a personal God. He knows our innermost being and desires to be present in every detail of our lives. That’s why when I happened to look up the definition of mundane that I was blown away.

mun·dane (adjective) 1. lacking interest or excitement; dull 2. of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one.

I expected the first definition. That was the one I had in mind when I began this post, but the second one—that’s what really hit me. This earth we walk on is itself mundane, but our God chose to come to earth as a man and walk on it anyway. And “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus came to earth and experienced everything we have and will experience as he turned that second definition on its head. He made earth a spiritual place as he walked on it, fully God and fully man. He knows the rollercoaster we often go through—our emotions, our situations, our relationships. Our ups and downs and our highs and lows are nothing new to him. However, it was in those highs and those lows that he proved himself to be so perfect and holy. (See Isaiah 53:1-6.)

Jesus did not appeal to the world’s values

As Jesus walked on the earth, he did not look like the rest of the world. It is not because he performed magic tricks with pizazz or looked like a movie star, though. As we know, Jesus did not stand out for his looks but rather for the extravagant love, power, healing and selflessness flowing through and from him. His ways were and always will be quite opposite from how the world tells us to act. Therefore, we will never find our satisfaction in the most likes on Instagram, meeting a celebrity or some other form of 15 minutes of fame. 

Our hearts were meant to be fully satisfied only by following after the God who is the Alpha and Omega, from everlasting to everlasting—the One who was, and is, and is to come. All else will fade away, “but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). 

So, even in the “normal” moments, our dedication and perseverance in following God’s will proves so much more rewarding and fulfilling. The highs of our relationships with God often prove to be the most memorable, but we must also remember that God is constant. 

Rest in his presence

In our wondering and in the ebbs and flows of everyday life, he reminds us to simply come be with him, to rest in his presence in the moments of the in-between and the routine, too. He always has something new to teach me, if I would just sit and listen, if all that I am would “wait quietly before my God” (Psalm 62:5).

Whether I’m folding clothes or praying over the health of a baby as he or she grows in the womb, God is there. He always has been, always will be, and because of that, our mundane moments turn out to be quite sacred and beautiful after all.

Brianna Childs, a student at Baylor University, is serving with Go Now Missions at The Living Vine Christian Maternity Home in Savannah, Ga.