Thursday, February 15, 2007

Secret Acts

Have you ever done something in private and think "this will not matter"? I have.

On Sundays, I teach two year olds in Sunday School along with 3 other teachers. The children usually do a craft, play, go to another room to sing songs and learn a Bible story, then return to the room for a light snack. Ever since I started teaching this class, I've been assigned to clean up duty! As you know, two year olds can certainly make a mess with glue, glitter, paper, toys and anything else you put in front of them. While they are in another room singing and having a good time, I'm usually on my hands and knees picking up everything on the floor and cleaning the tables preparing them for snacks. It's not the job I signed up for as I would much rather be with the little ones. There are times when I say to myself, "I won't be volunteering to teach this class again if this is all I get to do. I can clean up behind my own kids at home!" Just when I was saying this same thing last Sunday, I read Matthew 6:18.

In this passage, Jesus is telling us the proper way to fast and pray. The second part of this verse says, "And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Whether it's cleaning up after two year olds in Sunday School or giving a homeless person a few dollars at the traffic light, there are no menial tasks in God's eyes.

1 comment:

April said...

That is so true. I too teach 2 and 3 year olds but before I became the main teacher of the class, my duties included cleaning, preparing snack, and whatever else the Director of Children's Ministries wanted. Throughout my time when I was put on the "dirty work", the exact same thing crossed in my mind. I would say to myself, "Why am I doing this? I'm suppose to be assisting the teacher. Not cleaning up every little thing." But a few months after I did the "dirty work", the main teacher of the two and three year olds announced that she wanted to step down and be assistant to whomever wanted the job. I didn't really think too much about it until the director came to me when I was working the nursery at my church one morning. She sat down with me and asked me if I would like to take over teaching the class until she found someone to take over it full time. I told her that I'd pray about it and let her know that evening. So, all day I prayed as hard as I could and when I came back for Childrens Choir rehearsal (I am also a teacher assistant for the kids choir) the director was coming up the hall and I told her that I want to take over teaching. I felt that God was really leading me to teach these kids. So, I started teaching and a few more weeks passed and the director asked me to take over it full time. All it took was faith. True, I hated doing the dirty work and cleaning up everything, but it paid off at the end because I got this great opportunity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Just keep up what you're doing. It may not seem like much right now but God's watching and He's smiling. And who knows? You may get a similar opportunity. =)