Washing the Dishes

Sometimes, as pastors—or as parents—we wonder whether what we are doing is making any difference at all. Is this simply a treadmill? The work is often exhausting, and there are seasons when it feels as though we are making little or no progress. Is anyone listening? Is anything changing? Thankfully, God is often pleased to encourage His servants by allowing us to see glimpses of what He is doing. At times, He grants immediate and dramatic evidence of His grace, and those moments strengthen our hands for the work and renew our hope.

But when discouragement comes, it helps to consider something as ordinary as washing dishes. We washed them yesterday, and here they are again, dirty and waiting to be cleaned. Day after day, we wash the dishes. Does it make a difference? Stop washing them for a week—or a month—and see what happens.

The same principle applies to the work of shepherding a church, nurturing a marriage, or raising a family. Where would this person be without faithful counsel? Where would this marriage be without prayer and encouragement? Where would this family be without the steady ministry of the Word? Sometimes our labor is preventing things from becoming far worse than they otherwise would be. At other times, the fruit of our work may not become visible until years later, perhaps even in the next generation.

Kingdom work takes place in a thousand unseen ways. Our Lord said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened” (Luke 13:20–21). Leaven does its work quietly, gradually, and largely out of sight. Yet it never ceases to work. And then, almost suddenly, what was once hidden becomes obvious, beautiful, and glorious.

So don’t grow weary in doing good. God is at work even when we can’t see it. The dishes may need washing again tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean today’s labor was in vain.