Shortly after Mother’s Day this year I gave birth to our first son. For whatever reason it really got me thinking about what an interesting time it was for him to be born into. Which then led me down a longer train of thoughts; Truly what a time to be alive when our country is debating who even has that constitutional right to breathe.
What a time to be a woman. When few in our society know how to define what woman even is.
What a time to be pregnant. When a woman’s body is apparently no more unique than a transgender or male body.
What a time to start a family. When economists say that inflation is out of control and politicians would rather we fix certain evils in the world before bringing more people into it.
What a time to quit a full time job to be a homemaker. When no one still uses that antiquitous word nor has any grasp of what it means.
It can all be very daunting to live in the here and now. Sometimes it feels that culture is getting more depressing the further into the 2020s we get. And unfortunately it's easy to believe the lie that our lives are either so mundane that they’re not impactful, like we’re just along for this crazy “end-times” ride or so alien to culture we feel ostracized and lonely. But isn’t it interesting that something as simple as being a woman, with all the right body parts, who dresses like a lady and (heaven forbid) likes to cook is somehow offensive right now? It’s because the act of being a woman is actually obedience to the way God gloriously made you. Our culture doesn’t particularly like when us Christians say the word ‘obedience’ because it implies there’s consequence for the contrary. But nevertheless, this is our duty as believers. It may seem too simplistic to say that being a woman is an act of obedience but that’s exactly what I’m saying. Because that’s what the Bible says Kingdom work is. It’s not just the “super-Christian” women who write books and go viral on Tik-Tok that are more affective for the Kingdom. Living an impactful life for the Kingdom is often slow yet persistent acts done in obedience by everyday believers. How can we know that? Because the nature of the Kingdom is strong, steady and progressive.
As Pastor Doug Wilson is fond of saying, "the Kingdom of God isn't going to drop out of the sky like the 82nd airborne, it's gradual". Or in Biblical language it's the tiny mustard seed that becomes the largest garden plant (Mark 4:31), it's the pebble that grows into a huge mountain covering the earth (Daniel 2:35), it's the small amount of leaven that works its way into the whole lump (Matthew 13:33), it's the river that starts out ankle high and rises to be deep enough to swim in (Ezekiel 47: 3-6).
The way the Kingdom grows matters because it is our hope and our guideline on days when cleaning the bathroom one more time just seems pointless. By being and doing "simple, mundane, ordinary" tasks of obedience we are participating in Kingdom growth.
How do we know we are making an impact or that the Kingdom is actually growing? Through living by faith not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), even when culture doesn't look like it could possibly be redeemed. Living by faith means denying the lies that our steadfast and “small” obedience to God is insignificant. We deny those lies by continuing to be good disciples. A Christian disciple lives while the world appears to think we’re all dying. (Gen. 2:7; Ps. 139:13; 2 Co. 2:16) She embraces her strategic sexual design as a fruitful glorifier (Gen. 1:26) while the world is mangled up in gender dysphoria. She makes other disciples, some of them biological ones, (Matt. 28:19; Gen. 1:28) when all the other girls are living for themselves.
This means that having babies, encouraging your friends, sharing the gospel with your co-worker, honoring your spouse, taking care of your elderly parents, and folding laundry is all a part of the disciples' Kingdom work. Every task done in joyful obedience is watering that mustard seed. So keep being women who go to work, feed their people, do their homework, read their Bible, clean the house, pray for others, bake bread. Basically whatever task God has put in front of you today, do it! And do it in faith knowing it’s not meaningless. Because what a time to be alive and advance the unstoppable Kingdom by cheerfully doing small acts of obedience, even the mere act of being a woman. (1 Cor. 10:31)
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