I’m always challenged and inspired by the work of Michelangelo, the great Renaissance painter and sculptor. He spent years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel while working on a hanging scaffold. The work was difficult (ceilings are harder to paint than walls because of the difficulties of working at heights and essentially painting upside down), but he continued to paint more than 400 figures which feature in the work. When asked why he was working so hard on a dark corner of the chapel that no one would ever be able to see, his reply was, ‘God will see.’
Paul tells us ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.’ (Col 3:17) Most of what we do in life is ephemeral: few of us will create lasting works of art like Michelangelo that will stand the test of time! Instead, we cook meals that are eaten and then gone; we clean and tidy houses that our children and grandchildren dirty and untidy seconds after we finish; we work on things that soon disappear. Our words rarely last in the way that famous writers’ do. It can feel very dispiriting to do your best in the mundane, knowing our hard work will soon disappear.
But the Christian way of excellence in all things looks at life as Michelangelo did: ‘God will see.‘ Our labour for God is not in vain. He sees what we do, including the things that no one else sees, and He is pleased by faithfulness and excellence, by attention to detail. He Himself works that way!
At the moment I’m involved in preparations for events at church, and the amount of work that goes on in those preparations far exceeds the amount of attention anyone can give to what I do. It’s easy to wonder, ‘What’s the point?’ It’s easy to feel frustrated or that what we are doing is a waste of time that could be spent more profitably elsewhere. It’s just another event, after all. It will soon be forgotten.
But God’s way is one where attention to detail matters and our labour for Him is never in vain. Like Michelangelo, we seek to serve God in the dark places where no one will see. We serve in our homes (where we may feel unappreciated, taken for granted); we serve in our communities (where we may feel unknown and unwanted); we serve in the world where we are just one of X billion. We can be tempted to slack off, to cut corners, to ‘make do.’ No one will see. No one will know.
But God sees and God knows. He wants us to do all things well. As we serve Him faithfully, the little things really do matter, as anyone who has ever visited the Sistine Chapel can testify.
