“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Matthew 6:6

Invisible, or Initiative?

I worked SO hard today on cleaning—how awesome the house looks! I cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, swept, mopped, dusted, did the dishes, caught up all the laundry, and lit the candle on the piano. Yep, surely this time someone will notice! I am at the point now where I actually pray that I will not worry if anyone notices or not, but this is a lesson I am still learning. Without fail, it seems I still “pout” if all my work is not commented on. Yes, on days like this sometimes it is hard not to feel “invisible.”

Whatever happened to one of the first character qualities I learned as a child—initiative?  One of the Merriam-Webster definitions states that initiative is “independently starting something without outside influence or control,” or—as I was always taught—taking initiative is to perform a task out of free will without being asked, a way of going above and beyond the norm.

His Word encourages us in this way when it comes to cares of this world: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19, 20).

Some days I feel like I could customize this verse to say, “Do not clean, organize and fret over room perfection here on earth, where kids and pets will destroy your hard work; but spend time in the Word and prayer, laying up treasures in heaven, where neither kids, pets, (and on and on…) destroy and where thieves….”

If I am truly doing this even for the delight of my family, I should be asking myself, “Why am I doing this? To be recognized? To get a pat on the back? Who am I doing it for? Is it in love for my family, or for my self-pride?”

If you have ever felt this way or struggled in these areas, please know that you are not alone! And be encouraged to know that the One who loves you most cares for you and sees you and all you do.

A last reminder I have to ponder often is: “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3).

“Lord, I know that You love us enough to continue reviewing a lesson to help us walk in Your Spirit rather than the flesh. Please help us to check our motivation; don’t let us mess up a good deed with a bad attitude.”