Ordinary Work, Extraordinary God

My work in Liberia was, in many ways, ordinary. It took me halfway across the world, from a cozy cubicle to a non-air-conditioned galley. It changed my tool from a computer to an industrial dishwasher, and it shifted my view from a city skyline to the West African coastline. It wasn’t glamorous. In fact, it was deeply humbling.

I worked in the galley, serving three meals a day to 400 people. I mopped floors, made granola (a recipe we scaled to 750 servings), washed dishes, and sliced bread. In my previous job, I relied heavily on my education and training. I was proud of the work I did because I was making a difference in the lives of traumatized children. But in Liberia, my shirts were stained with coffee and beet juice. Each night, I fell into bed exhausted after a 12-hour shift of lifting pans and scrubbing tables.

And yet, in this ordinary, non-glamorous, humbling job—if I could set aside my pride—I found that I could relate to Jesus more intimately. Jesus didn’t leave a cozy cubicle for a non-air-conditioned galley; he left a throne room for an animal’s trough. He didn’t exchange a computer for a dishwasher; he exchanged a crown of gold for a crown of thorns. He didn’t change his view from a city skyline to a coastline; he gave up the splendor of heaven for a dusty, broken world. Talk about a humbling experience! And if he could subject himself to such humiliation, why couldn’t I? Afterall, my humiliation was just a fraction of his. 

Philippians 2:3-11 says:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Friends, I’ve come to discover a secret joy in doing ordinary, humbling work. Because through the ordinary, we can experience and identify with an extraordinary God. May this reality encourage you in your ordinary work.

P.S.: I welcome your feedback and if this article has encouraged you, please pass it along!