“Contentment is the fruit of faithfulness.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – September 16, 2025
The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
I still remember the sense of a pea-soupy fog lifting from my mind on the day I stopped trying to be an influencer and ditched my social media accounts. As a struggling author, I’d eaten up the advice of the professionals that told me, if I was to be successful in my art, it wasn’t enough to write well. Oh no. I needed to sell myself, and that meant branding and campaigning, curating my life to the public to look glossy, glamorous, enviable. Unwittingly, I had bought into the cultural belief that the value of an individual is determined by how many followers she has on Instagram. And boy, did my sense of worth take a hard hit! There was no winning that game, for every time I logged on to create an impressive new post, I was met by some other author’s more impressive, more glamorous, more successful story. It was a recipe for discontentment, and it drained all joy out of the good work the Lord had given me to do.
Praise be to God, at last I became so miserable, I threw up my hands and walked away from the whole self-promotion show. That’s when contentment, slowly but surely, started growing again, like a well-weeded seedling. How wonderful it was to accept myself as small again, but held in my Father’s strong and loving hands!
We are told our worth hangs on our level of influence, that the onus lies with you and me to leave a lasting legacy. And while a young shepherd named David didn’t have a social media presence, his culture wasn’t so different in its demands. The Israelites wanted a king with physical strength and stature and an impressive resume of victorious battles. But God ignored their requirements and chose a boy unknown to everybody except the sheep he faithfully tended. David wrote countless Psalms to the Lord, not expecting they’d one day reach the Old Testament’s “greatest hits” list, but out of overflowing love for his God. His sphere of influence was small, yet God chose him to lead his people.
Once the fog lifted, the Lord gently showed me where I had gone wrong and led me to greener pastures by still waters. He restored my weary soul. He showed me that what he requires of me is simple faithfulness in the daily work he has given me to do – tending the little flock he’s put in my care, cooking one more meal, changing one more diaper, blessing the people nearest to me and pointing them to Jesus – even if the world never hears my name.
What a relief! We can go about our business pursuing faithfulness in the small things and leave all the fruit, the impact, the influence (though the ripples may well travel further than we think) to the Lord!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Please rein in any self-serving ambitions hidden in my heart and help me walk humbly and contentedly with my God. Help me not despise the day of small things but to take joy in faithfully doing the daily work you’ve given me to do.
Application
I have been called to faithfulness, not influence. I can leave the fruit of my faithfulness in the Lord’s hands.
Related Reading
Matthew 11:28-30; Zechariah 4:10; Micah 6:8; Psalm 23
Worship Resource
J.J.Heller: Be Thou Thy Vision
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