Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Drawing Closer to God While Scrubbing Toilets

Day 4

Loving God with All Your Heart
Or
Drawing Closer to God While Scrubbing Toilets
This week we’re looking at different methods of prayer and communing with God.  Heather came up with a great list, which, although not comprehensive, can be used as a launch pad for creative ways of drawing close to God. The result is that God reveals Himself and interjects Himself more and more into your life, thoughts and actions. 
All of us have some time when we do mundane chores that can be done by rote.  Dishes, lawn mowing, scrubbing toilets, stacking wood, folding clothes, etc., etc.  Adding to Heather’s list, here are a few from my personal experience: 
Ask God questions while scrubbing toilets and listen for His answers.  Jesus promised that, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”  John16:13
While making beds or ironing or folding clothes, pray for those who sleep in those beds or wear those clothes. 
While stacking wood, thank God for His provision of warmth and shelter.  Thank him for His creation and let Him teach you how to be a good steward of His blessings.  Pray for those who lack provision, shelter, etc.
I covet those times when I can do mundane chores without anyone around as it is at those times that I have experienced God deeply and enjoyed our conversations and His assurance of His love for me.  That assurance draws me into a greater love for Him and for others.
Let’s learn a bit from an expert.  Brother Lawrence, born in France early in the seventeenth century, lived from age 18 in a monastery where he was assigned kitchen duties.
Brother Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?"
For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."
Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world." Brother Lawrence felt that he cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world alongside God. One of his most famous sayings refers to his kitchen:
"The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees before the Blessed Sacrament.”



What mundane tasks could become times of worship in your day?
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What are some of your regular tasks that would offer you a chance to give thanks?
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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God.
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