KAREN HODGE|CONTRIBUTOR
“What will you do in the mundane days of faithfulness?”- Martin Luther
Our lives are filled with the mundane. Tasks, relationships, and choices that fill an ordinary day. But each mundane moment or task is pregnant for the potential of His glory. They hold within them the promise of His kingdom coming…in the world and in us. We as women long for our lives to make an impact but rarely think that impact is made in the small things of life. And yet a single act of obedience can make an eternal impact. I know because I have seen it with my own two eyes.
A Simple Step of Obedience
Sixteen years ago there was a young pastor’s wife named Fanny who lived in the Dominican Republic. She was a young mother and desired to serve the women in her church with sound Bible teaching. Because she could read English, she was impacted by many of Susan Hunt’s books about biblical womanhood. She desired for the women in her church to benefit from what she was learning. She figured she would just translate the material and get it into the hands of her women, so she approached her husband, Eric, with her exciting idea. He encouraged her to get Susan’s permission first before moving forward. Honestly, Fanny thought the step was not only unnecessary but also likely impossible. How in the world would she find Susan Hunt? Fanny had an obedience opportunity…would she choose expediency over obedience to her husband?
Behind a desk in Georgia sat Susan Hunt. No doubt she had risen early to complete the women’s ministry tasks that lay ahead of her. She opened her computer to see an inbox full of emails. Each one held a question or request. Each sender had a story. Enter Susan’s obedience opportunity—would she take the time to carefully answer this email sitting there from Fanny or would she overlook it because she did not have the time?
You see, that simple act of obedience resulted not only in permission to teach the material, but a spiritual mother-daughter relationship that has spanned sixteen years. Not only that, it has been used for God’s Kingdom to come and impact countless women all over Latin America. I know this is true because I have hugged the necks of women who now think biblically and live covenantally. I have seen the impact on their churches and I have also been one of those impacted women.
Big Kingdom Impact
Last summer, I had the privilege of traveling with a team led by Kathryn Stephens to Columbia to put on a “Transformada” conference. I sat in awe of the women’s hunger and thirst to be taught sound doctrine. I was humbled as I saw them squeal and cry over receiving one of the few books for women that have been translated into Spanish. This picture in Columbia left me with my own obedience opportunity. Would I return to the US and prioritize the many Women’s Ministry tasks that lay before me…like six more Transformed conferences or would I set out in faith upon a burden God had laid on my heart? I had set about doing the Transformed conferences with the commitment of bringing sound teaching and equipping that would have long- term impact of building up the churches across the PCA rather than a one and done conference. Did my Spanish speaking sisters deserve any less? I knew as I sat listening to the women’s cry for resources that I needed to prioritize the translation of our 100 page Women’s Ministry Training into Spanish. Then there would be potential for multiplication.
Because of her long-standing discipleship relationship with Susan, Fanny stood as the ideal spiritual mother to her Latin American sisters to translate the material. She quickly worked through translating the material. We piloted the material this past February before our Leadership Training with 10 women who represented Columbia, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Spanish speaking women’s ministry here in the US.
A few weeks ago, on June 1-5 Susan Hunt, Paula Miles, Stephen Estock and I had the privilege to take another step of obedience and travel to the Dominican Republic. There, I had the privilege of watching 10 women in the Dominican Republic trained to be Spanish Women’s Ministry Trainers. When I asked them at the end if they would pray for 50 women who will be trained in Columbia this summer they asked me, “Why did we only have 10 women?” I replied, “I don’t see 10 women…I see hundreds of women who because of your obedience to steward what you have been taught will prayerfully think biblically and live covenantally.” I encouraged them to be fruitful and multiply…to trust and obey.
So, what does obedience in the mundane look like? I saw ten fearful yet faithful women step up to steward what God had taught them. I saw my friend Paula Miles step out in faith yet again with her newly minted passport to see His kingdom move in the Dominican Republic. I saw several hundred women arrive that Saturday with their friends and daughters in tow to hear Susan and my stories about our journey towards being transformed from life-takers to life-givers. I saw the joy on Fanny’s face that radiated the answer to a sixteen-year-old prayer. And I saw the tears of a saint who would tell you she never had any grand plans or agenda but rather a desire to walk in faithful obedience.
Obedience brings blessings. Today God is calling you to obey in the mundane. It might look like an act of kindness towards a hurting friend, a meaningful spiritual conversation with a child on a road trip this summer, or maybe it is surrendering to something the Lord has been prompting you to do for a long time. These mundane tasks have the potential to expand His kingdom. They bring his glory near for others to see. And there is no telling the exponential blessing they might bring if you will simply obey.
