A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
My bad-hair day began the day my long-time hair dresser told me she was retiring. And that bad-hair day lasted for several weeks while I desperately shopped to replace her. My kids would tell you my hair-do is not just old-fashioned, it’s neanderthalic. (Think Princess Grace Kelly in the ’50’s.) I phoned the hair salons in my zip code and asked, “Do you have someone on staff who does a French twist?”
If they said, “What’s that?” I said, “Nevermind. You don’t.”
But one hair dresser answered me, “French twist? Certainly. Come on in. Ask for Barbara.”
When I got there, I found Barbara at her computer googling “French twist.” That dear woman had never done a French twist but her “can-do” attitude charmed me. She eagerly met the challenge and and felt confident she could master even my old-fashioned hair style. She is a joyful Christian, a devoted wife and mother, and she entertains me by wearing all kinds of beautiful clothes, different hair styles, and bright straw hats. She has been God’s good gift to me and the cure for my bad hair days. She’s the sweet embodiment of Colossians 3:23,24:
Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do,
as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance;
for you serve the Lord Christ.
I find that Scripture astounding. Whatever I’m doing, God says, I’m to work hard and cheerfully, because I’m working for Jesus? Some days, yes, I write a Bible study, or counsel a woman burdened by cares. But many days I am driven from task to task, meeting sudden emergencies, with no choice of control. I work at things I must do again tomorrow—serving a meal, scrubbing a toilet, picking up toys left by a child, counseling a friend. Could the Lord Jesus possibly look on those menial tasks as actually serving Him?
God says so. Read it again. It’s true, if you’re a Christian, whether you’re a project manager or a janitor, a used car salesman or a fashion designer, a mother or a father, a business owner or an employee. It might seem the most boring of tasks. But God says, do it well, because you are doing it for Jesus’ sake, not just for a paycheck. Your reward will be from the Lord Christ Himself.
If you really believed that, wouldn’t it make a tremendous difference in how you viewed today’s tasks? Wouldn’t it make holy even the simplest of menial tasks? According to this Scripture, there is no difference between the value of what a pastor does, and what a stenographer does, when you are a chlld of God, and do it to honor Him. There is no “secular” job; it’s all “sacred” and valued by God, when you set out to honor Him in your daily chores.
The sign in a beauty shop says, “I’m a beautician, not a magician.” But Barbara’s careful craftsmanship, her “can-do” attitude toward problems, her sweet Christian spirit, did make my bad hair day magically disappear!