Our mundane moments may lead to miracles

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."

- (Job 5:9)

"This day was way too long," was the text message sent to me by one of the young moms in my life. She's struggling with being home with the kids all day, and now it's getting dark early. Sending the kids out in the yard to play after dinner isn't an option.

Haven't you had days that seem never-ending? Sometimes they're not even hard. It's the difficulty of the everyday moments that make it feel that way. Currently, with what I see as the COVID blues, the mundane moments seem to increase with each passing day.

You might not be dealing with the kids. It might be that daily routine of caretaking for a loved one has you down. It might be your monotonous job that bores you to tears. Maybe you don't feel a change in any of your situations and life just goes on and on with no sign of relief in sight.

The other day when the sun was shining, I took a walk in my driveway. Another day, I just sat in my chair for a whole hour and did nothing. Resting is a spiritual principle that can give you a lift. I was simply desperate to break up the ordinary routine with something different.

Researchers say 60% of our daily tasks are routine and monotonous. They suggest changing our attitudes toward our task helps, and so does doing something simple to break our pattern of boredom.

Being spiritually minded, I wondered how God might view these mundane days of ours. I was amazed to find out that in the Bible miracles oftentimes followed a long series of mundane days. God used these moments to bring about change.

Moses, a man who experienced many miracles, at one time performed the tedious job of tending sheep for his father-in-law's herd. He spent long, ordinary days listening to the sheep's noises, contending with their odors, fleas and other issues.

In the middle of an ordinary day, Moses got a promotion. God inspired him to help free the people from the oppression of Egypt. Moses left his situation behind and watched God perform mighty miracles.

Another time, the Israelites were trying to bring down the walls of the city of Jericho. Doing so would mean defeating their enemies.

City walls were made of stone and not easy to disintegrate. God instructed them to march around the walls for seven days. So for seven humdrum days, all they did was walk around in circles. Sounds pretty unexciting if you ask me. But something miraculous happened on the seventh day - the walls crumbled on their own.

Somehow, it appears God uses our routine moments to produce miracles. Just the thought of it makes the dull days seem a bit better.

I see some of the miracles are done in us. Plain, ordinary days are the fertile soil to grow our faith, patience and resilience. I think of how for eight long years I was stuck inside my home battling an illness. I used that time to mature spiritually and emotionally. One day, my miracle came to pass. For the past 12 years, I've been going out.

So in the midst of our dreary days, it just might be that practicing some faith and patience can help us produce a miracle and help us in our mundane moments.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413.