Dulled by Daily Routine or Honed to Sharpness?

Journal 2005 01 30
Dulled by Daily Routine or Honed to Sharpness?

Life in the community. Not life spent in exploration. We think of exploration and expedition in the context of constant travel. During this first winter of the expedition the men spend months biding time until the conditions allow travel.

Treating sick people (bled one, cut the frostbitten toes off another), dealing with problems (boats stuck in the ice), engaging in trade (making tomahawks and trading them for corn and grain), diplomacy (interacting with local Indians and Canadian business representatives) and the daily disciplines life requires keep the men of the Corps of Discovery active if not downright busy.

Are we able to place ourselves in the proper context of a Great Commission? Like Lewis and Clark and the men under their command, we serve under the authority of the Great Commission. When you are commissioned into service you do not have the option of serving. We seem to think fulfilling the Great Commission is something we do at our own leisure. That is not the case.

I believe what happens to so many of us is we let daily life dull us from the calling to be about fulfilling that which He has commissioned us to fulfill, “Go into all the nations, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” We see in the very human example of the Corps of Discovery that daily life and human nature work to stop exploration and discovery. Human need tends to overwhelm us and fool us into believing that meeting the needs of daily life fulfills our duty to the Great Commission. We must stop that. We must allow the Holy Spirit to prepare us for a season and then send us when the conditions are right.

If you’ve ever spent any time in a hunting camp you’ll soon find it is easier to stay in camp and tend to the daily duties of the camp. It takes work to get up before dawn to be in place to succeed. It takes desire to stay out past dark to give yourself a chance to succeed. It is easy to convince ourselves of the importance of the daily routine. We must allow the Holy Spirit to override that very human response with obedience to the greater calling. Fulfillment comes in fulfilling the commission. To do that we must be in the right place at the right time ready and able to act.

Lewis and Clark were busy with daily life. Yet at the same time, they were preparing to move on when the conditions allowed them to work at fulfilling their mission.

Let us adopt that same mindset today.