A few of us from my church are experiencing a hangover. Don’t be alarmed. We’re just dealing with the zombie-like state that comes from an intense week of volunteering at Vacation Bible School or VBS.

All week, about 30 of us cut, glued, baked, organized, sang, played, narrated, learned, prayed, laughed, protected, and shared our lives with a whole bunch of 3 to 11-year-olds. It wasn’t a glamorous week. It wasn’t an intellectually stimulating week. But it was a deeply satisfying week as we invested in these little ones.

I’m blessed to be part of a local church body where people are happy to pitch in with whatever needs to be done: whether that’s vacuuming the floor, hanging decorations, or stacking chairs.

But as I look around us, I see culture dictating that we need to “dream big.” And perhaps this mindset is creeping into our churches as well.

The stage and the spotlight seem to be the most coveted “callings.” Even within Christian culture, there is a sense that those with visible gifts are more valuable in the Kingdom of God.

Yet in the book of Numbers, we see how God assigned different tasks to His people.

When it came to the Levites or the priests, God didn’t just have all of them perform sacrifices on behalf of the Israelites. No, some of the Levites were in charge of what would seem to be “menial” tasks. The Gershonites, for instance, had the somewhat unglamorous job of carrying the curtains and the coverings of the Tabernacle as it moved from one spot to the next.

Can you imagine being a robust young man, part of the Levitical or priestly tribe, all set to make a mark for God, being told, “Your job is to carry curtains!”

Not lead worship. Not preach an alliterative three-point sermon. Not stand on stage. But simply do the task that would likely go unnoticed.

In the Lord’s eyes, curtain-carrying was important work. The Kingdom of God doesn’t work on the principles of the world.

Bigger is not always better. The spotlight is not more significant than the sidelines. And louder doesn’t mean wiser. 

In fact, in the New Testament, we read this surprising juxtaposition: “…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” (1 Thess 4:11)

No self-help leadership book will ever correlate ambition with a quiet life. Yet the best-selling book of all time —the Bible—overturns expectations and confounds cultural norms.

Friend, if our ministry seems too small or too insignificant, perhaps we need to look at it through a different lens.

Maybe your calling for right now is to stay home and raise your kids.

Maybe your assignment for this season is to work with integrity on that mind-numbing project.

Maybe your ministry is to take care of older parents.

For decades, my assignment has been to faithfully continue writing weekly blogs. Even when the readership shrinks. Even if I can’t see immediate rewards. Trusting that He is pleased with my obedience and will use even this for His glory.

Friend, God has given you responsibilities to carry: whether seemingly menial or supposedly monumental. May we work with integrity and excellence in all that He has asked us to do.

May we be content in our calling to serve God through faithful stewardship—even if the world dismisses it.

No, contentment doesn’t mean complacency or growing overly comfortable.

But it does mean we stop comparing our calling with others. It means we hit pause on complaining. And that we walk in the conviction that we do it all for God’s glory.

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