Do Everything Without Grumbling
I felt like I had cleaned it about 100 times—in one week.
Yet once again, the toilet needed a good scrubbing. With my hazmat suit safely on (think sweat pants and an old T-shirt), I waded into the mess. I won’t lie to you and say I sang happy songs of the joys of bathroom cleaning. I also won’t lie and tell you I love the smell of cleaning products in the morning. Little did I know God would use such an ordinary task to teach me such a mighty lesson.
As I scrubbed the bowl, I thought about all the other things I could be doing: reading, relaxing, working out. My mind began to fuss about the three men who inhabit this house with me. I started wondering whether, if I didn’t clean the toilet, they would even notice. Eventually, I was caught up in a complaint fest in my brain. A lot of valid points were made.
Then, something completely out of place entered my thought pattern. Philippians 2:14 says, “Do everything without grumbling and arguing.” What? That did not fit the narrative in my head—or the one in my heart. But there it was, in my mind, waiting for my heart to grab hold.
I really didn’t want to grab hold of that Scripture.
At the moment, I felt no joy, no happiness, no enthusiasm for the task at hand. All I saw was a toilet in serious need of cleaning. Maybe it was the smell of the cleaning products, but I couldn’t believe that this verse, which had parked in my soul, applied to my current situation. Could I complete this yucky task without grumbling? Could I have joy while cleaning the toilet?
I paused cleaning and began to meditate on the words whispered in my heart. Do everything. Could that apply to scrubbing the toilet? Had I been missing out on opportunities to learn great truths amid my cleaning adventures? I thought beyond the scrubbing to the picking up, the washing, the folding, the preparing, the mending, the wiping, the carrying; all of these things and more could be included in the “do everything” part of Philippians 2:14.
My world was rocked.
God led me to pick up my Bible and read the verse in context. See it here: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Reading within the context of Philippians 2 made me take a seat for a moment. You see, my friend, this idea of doing everything without complaining translated far beyond my little bathroom world.
My world was rocked again.
We are to be “blameless and pure” so others will see us shine for the glory of God. The world watches us as believers in Christ. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us can we present ourselves differently. The world to which I refer may be inside or outside your home. Those who live with you watch as you go through your day. They see how you approach difficulties. They observe you making hard choices. They notice your level of joy or disdain over tasks. Yes, they even see how you handle the 200th scrubbing of the toilet. Venturing outside our home also gives us opportunities to be watched. When we go to the grocery store, when we wait in the carpool line, when we watch our children play sports, the eyes of others are on us. A grumbly attitude about the task at hand can be a definite dimmer switch on our shining light for Jesus.
My friend, we need to find joy in all the everyday tasks we encounter.
How do we do this? I believe the answer is found in our verses. Paul, the writer of Philippians, tells us to “hold firmly to the word of life” (v. 16). By grasping the truth of Scripture, we can live in a way that is different from the world. Yes, we can find joy in folding clothes, in mopping the floor, in cooking meals, in chauffeuring kids here and there, in the everyday and the mundane. The joy doesn’t come from the circumstance. It comes from within our hearts, placed there as a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23 NIV) when we become believers in Christ. We keep the grumbling and arguing at bay when we tap into the deep joy and peace given to us; we shine for others to see when we allow that deep joy and peace to permeate both our day-to-day interactions and our encounters with the world.
When we are different, others will notice.
So today, think about the things on your to-do list. Ask God to bring you joy as you complete each task. Approach your work as an opportunity to shine for Jesus. Tell others about the new attitude you’ve been given.
Smile. Find and show that joy. I plan to do the same, with toilet scrubber in hand.
is a wife, mom, and Bible study teacher, who loves to cook, write and make music. She and her husband have two grown sons who come home to NC often, bringing their special sweetheart girls with them. You can follow her at https://anitafessler.wordpress.com/ or on social media at https://www.facebook.com/beverywellfed.
Photograph © Jan Kopřiva
, used with permission
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