Ordinary Faithfulness

Date: Monday, November 9, 2026

Readings: 2 Thessalonians 3 | Psalm 108

Paul ends this short letter with the most down-to-earth instruction: keep working, keep loving, and “never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13). Some in Thessalonica had apparently decided that with Jesus’s return imminent, ordinary work was beneath them, and Paul gently insists that daily labor is a form of faithfulness. He reminds them that he and his companions worked night and day so as not to burden anyone. Hope in the future does not cancel responsibility in the present; it energizes it.

Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest, a celebrated author on the spiritual life, and a professor at Yale and Harvard. In 1986, he left the academy for L’Arche Daybreak, a community near Toronto where people with various disabilities share daily life. His first assignment stunned his friends: caring for Adam, a young man with profound disabilities who could not speak or dress himself. Nouwen spent his mornings helping Adam bathe, shave, dress, and eat. He later wrote that this slow, repetitive routine taught him more about God’s love than all his scholarship. The famous teacher of prayer was still learning the gospel with a washcloth in his hand.

That is the gospel at street level. Paul assures us that “the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one” (3:3), and then prays, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way” (3:16). You do not have to do something spectacular today. So do the next good thing, in the peace of the Lord who is with you.

Devotional Prompts:

What is one ordinary task this week that you can offer to God as an act of worship?
Where do you feel weary of doing good, and what does the Lord of peace want to say to you there?

Prayer: Lord of peace, thank You for being faithful when we are weary. Give us strength for the ordinary tasks in front of us and let our small acts of goodness reflect Your love. Be with us at all times and in every way. Amen.