Latest / Grounded Growth / Faithfulness in the Small Things
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- Stephanie Petry: Hi, welcome to. Nicole Ghirardi: Hi, welcome to Grounded Growth Podcast. I'm Nicole Girardi. And I'm Stephanie Petry. We believe that grounded growth comes from being intentional about compassionate connections that are beautifully balanced while flourishing in faithfulness. Each week we will share real conversations, encouragement, and simple systems to help build a life that feels steady, aligned, and grounded. So sit back, maybe grab a coffee, and join us where clarity meets calm and growth feels intentional. Stephanie Petry: ⁓ And I'm Stephanie Petry. We believe that grounded growth comes from being intentional about compassionate connections that are beautifully balanced while flourishing in faithfulness. Each week we will share real conversations, encouragement, and simple systems to help build a life that feels steady, aligned, and grounded. So sit back, maybe grab a coffee, and join us where clarity meets calm and growth feels intentional. Before we dive in, if you want to make sure you never miss a conversation, hit that subscribe or follow button. Nicole Ghirardi: Before we dive in, if you want to make sure you never miss a conversation, hit that subscribe or follow button Stephanie Petry: right now on whatever app you're listening on. Nicole Ghirardi: right now on whatever app you're listening on. Welcome back to the Ground of Growth Podcast. I'm Stephanie Petrie. I'm Nicole Giradi. We are going to continue our series of Fruit That Lasts. And this episode is all about faithfulness in the small things. Faithfulness is not about doing something impressive, it is about consistently saying yes to God in the place that He has put you. God is faithful even when our circumstances are uncertain, disappointing, or hidden. our faithfulness is not dependent on having a perfect story, a perfect circumstance or a perfect faith. the small unseen things we faithfully steward today can become part of the story God uses for his glory tomorrow. and faithfulness is not a finished. Destination either. It is a lifelong process of listening, obeying, surrendering, and trusting God with the outcome. And we tend to think that faithfulness is that big dramatic moment, the huge leap of faith or the impossible calling. But most of the faithful life is lived in the small, ordinary, repeated things almost no one ever sees. So before we talk about why it is hard, let's define it. What does faithfulness in the small things actually need, said? So faithfulness is choosing to respond to God instead of simply reacting to life. So I don't want to just react to whatever circumstances the Lord puts in front of me. I want Jesus to define how I respond, how I make decisions, and even how I serve or how I love. faithfulness asks, what does obedience look like right here? Rather than how do I get the outcome I want? when I was practicing this, I just God taught me how, you know, I trust him with the outcomes of my life, but do I also trust him with the steps to get there? and then also Pastor Dave giving us some encouragement of keep saying yes to what you feel God is calling you to until he throws up a roadblock. and it's been it's been very much a blessing to be able to practice that. So faithfulness means stewarding what God has actually given you. We can become so focused on that next thing that we overlook the thing that God has already placed in our hands. our families, friendship, work, ministry, homes, gifts, responsibilities, even limitations can all become places where we practice faithfulness. we don't have to wait for a bigger platform or a clearer calling to start being faithful in the here and now. Start where you are. faithfulness doesn't require a perfect story. 2 Timothy 1, 5 reminds us of Timothy's sincere faith, which first lived and his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. I actually got to go listen to Pastor Josh Howerton preach at Lake Point Church down in Texas on vacation. And he actually was preaching on this passage in particular and just was just was saying how Timothy's faithfulness was not determined by his father's unfaithfulness. But it was actually through his single mom and her faith. and so he gave a shout out to all the single moms out there that have to step into a role that they're called to, even though it may not be the circumstance that they want to have. God worked through the faithfulness and the of the people that God had placed around Timothy. So that is incredibly encouraging because sometimes we look at what is missing in our story and assume that it disqualifies us for some reason and that we're not worthy or good enough. But where the ideal is absent, God's grace abounds. and so God is not limited to what our story lacks. Faithfulness is taking obedience steps before we know the outcome. So sometimes God gives us enough light for the next step. But not enough light to see the whole path. And that can be frustrating. Very. I've experienced this personally in stepping into writing, songwriting, and ministry opportunities lately that I could not have planned for myself. I have dreams that sometimes feel impossible and way out there. But the more I listen to God's call and say yes in faith, the more I see him open doors that I couldn't have even created. faithfulness says, Lord, I don't know exactly where this is going, but I trust you enough to take the next step. And I think that's where faithfulness becomes both beautiful and difficult. because saying yes to God doesn't always mean that circumstances immediately get easier. Sometimes we obey and still wait. Sometimes we faithfully serve and nobody notices, and sometimes we take the step God asks us to take. And the outcome looks nothing like we expected. So, why is faithfulness so hard for us to live out? you know, faithful is hard because it's rarely exciting. Actually, I take that back. It's sometimes exciting. you know, but it's the small, small, ordinary things done again and again, and repetitiveness, and our hearts crave the big moment instead of that quiet repeated one. And there is almost no immediate reward. And you can be faithful for weeks and see nothing change. And without a payoff in sight, it is tempting to just quit. And just kind of throwing in my 21 day habit thing, you know, of that, you know, I used to be an it takes 21 days to make a habit. So I'm this is going to be a habit That is not how God works. God does not work in numbers of twenty-one. God does not really work in specific numbers. It's it's when we are ready. And that when He is ready for us to be able to move on. And that is super hard and frustrating at times. for impatient people. But we're not impatient people, so we don't have worry about that, right? I'm just kidding. so so much of faithfulness is unseen. And no one is applauding the prayers you pray in the private or the promises you keep when it would be easier to bend them. And we also confuse faithfulness with feelings. We wait to feel motivated, but faithfulness is the commitment that keeps going long after that feeling is gone. So real faithfulness takes discipline over the long haul, and that it is not our natural bent. Donald Whitney writes in the spiritual disciplines for the Christian life that we grow towards godliness by disciplining ourselves for that purpose, drawing on 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7. It is a lifelong training, not a one-time burst of willpower. So, if I'm honest, I am great at starting and terrible at staying for things. I can begin a new rhythm on fire and quietly let it fizzle by the third week and when no one would ever notice either way. And so I'm also tempted to look down on the small assignment that I have and want the impressive thing God might do someday. And I overlook the ordinary thing he has actually put in my hands today. And that's the stillness that I'm working through and the peace of, you know, of knowing what is What I'm given today versus what tomorrow brings. Because I am focused on today, not in the past, not in the future. It's what's God giving us today to be able to be grateful and faithful for what He has provided for us. So when faithfulness feels invisible, I start to wonder if it even matters. and that is usually the exact moment I'm tempted to coast off and do something different. But that's now where I find myself that I dive deeper into the word and I journal and I mean it's it's I I reflect in paper so much more than than verbally with God and that there's a lot of God, what are you doing this for kind of moments? And lately it's been a lot of why, why. And I'm learning that, you know, I just have to be patient. And that clearly patience is what this season is brought to me to realize. and that's hard, but that's the faithfulness that I'm giving to God is just that I know God's going to provide me what I need at that time, where instead of Nicole Giorardi's plan that I previously had. So I think of Noah who built the ark for years with no rain in sight and And I am sure plenty of neighbors who thought he had lost it. that is faithfulness. That's obeying God in the long and unglamorous middle before anyone ever can see the point that's going on. And so Pastor Dave said in a sermon that faithful work often goes unnoticed now, but the reward comes when the chief shepherd appears. That reframes it for me. And that faithfulness is not hard. Because it does not matter. It is hard because the reward is usually not yet. And so when faithfulness is that hard and the small things feel like they are going nowhere, it is easy to quietly lose our heart. So what does it actually look like when we start to lose our heart in the small things? Well, we can lose heart when faithfulness feels invisible, as you were talking about. There are seasons when you're doing the right things and no one seems to notice any of it. You serve, you show up, you love people, you keep praying, you keep obeying, and there is no applause or obvious reward. The Now and Not Yet book by Bruce Chow Simon reminds us that God is at work in our obscurity just as much as He is at work in our visibility. The hidden work is not wasted work. We can become discouraged when obedience doesn't make our circumstances better. The author Simons also reminds us that sometimes faithfulness to God and his word actually puts us on a course where circumstances get worse, not better. when you asked for him to teach you patience, and he's gonna put you in a situation where you're going to practice patience. and then shifting it to, okay, Lord, can we practice peace and the pain ships? That would be great next. that's hard because we can unconsciously believe if I'm doing what God asked me to do, things should start working out. We should be getting better. But faithfulness isn't a transaction with God. we obey because he is faithful, not because obedience guarantees the outcome we want. We can become distracted by someone else's story. Social media makes God's work in someone else's life incredibly accessible to us. We see their answered prayer and their opportunities and their ministry and their success and their beautiful family moment and vacations. runs hard for me. Suddenly our own ordinary faithfulness feels insignificant. But we cannot compare our hidden chapter to someone else's highlight reel. if our goal is to make God's faithfulness known, we first have to cultivate a real knowledge of his faithfulness off of social media. Off OFF off, not from. we cannot give away what we don't truly possess. Social media should be an overflow of what God is doing in us, not the place where we want to try and produce a spiritual life. Sometimes we lose heart because we forget that God is writing the story. We're just a character, hopefully a main character in it. But Sally Clarkson, one of my other favorite authors, asks in her book, Own Your Life, have I written a story of faith and faithfulness that will speak inspiration to generations to come? I look up to her so much. That question shifts my perspective often, and thinking about the legacy I'm leaving behind. I'm not just trying to get through today's responsibilities. I am participating in a story that God may use beyond my lifetime. My faithful story may become the place where God builds messages, provides answers to prayer, and teaches wisdom. What feels small today may have significance that I can't see yet. So said so well said. So for me, losing heart looks like going through the motions. Still technically doing the things, but none of my heart is actually in any of them. it can look like letting the small discipline slide first, the quiet time to thread or the follow-through, telling myself I'll get back to it when life calms down. I struggled with this the last few weeks and of sleeping in. And I'm like, I'm I'm gonna sleep in. Why do I have to wake up at 4:30? when I can sleep in and get up with Jackson and James when they have to leave for football. And I clearly know why I wake up at four thirty. I wasn't doing my routine in the morning. So I wasn't getting up and doing roots and getting into God's word and reading scripture like I had previously. And I clearly saw that throughout my day, that my day was chaos. And I really needed that wake up call. No pun intended, I guess. but that's why I wake up earlier than my whole household is because that is my time to center me at God. So then that way then I can provide for my family like God wants me to. And you know, it's It looks like measuring my ordinary obedience against someone else's visible results and deciding mine must not count for much. And that was hard. and you know, I think of Elijah under the broom tree in first Kings chapter nineteen is as he had just been faithful in a huge way, and then he crashed, sat down under a tree, and asked God to just let him be done. Even the most Faithful people lose heart. And that is what we have to remember is that we will lose heart, but it's how what's the next step after that that picks us back up and gets us back where we need to be? And what gets me is how gently God met him through that is there was no lecture, there was just rest, food, and a quiet whisper. when I lose heart, he is not disgusted with me either. you know, because you feel guilty that you haven't been doing the warning that you needed to and but he knows that I came back and that he's not disgusted with me. And he is tender and he helps me take that next small step that I needed. And so the good news is that our faithfulness was never meant to rest on our own strength. Thank goodness. And Jesus walked in faithful road all the way to the cross. And he holds on to us even when our grip on him feels weak. So what does Jesus show to us about faithfulness? In John 15, 4 through 5. Jesus says, Abide in me and I in you. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Jesus shows us that faithfulness is rooted in trust and obedience, not in knowing the outcome. Jesus faithfully followed the Father even when obedience led him towards suffering, rejection, and the cross. Faithfulness does not mean everything gets easier or that we understand where God is taking us. Sometimes faithfulness puts us on a harder road. Jesus shows us what it looks like to say in effect, not my will, but yours be done. Our faithfulness begins with surrender. Jesus was faithful in the hidden and ordinary before He was seen publicly. So much of Jesus' earthly life was ordinary and unseen, yet none of it was wasted. That reminds me that God is just as present in the quiet, repetitive, unapplauded parts of our lives as He is in the moments everyone sees. We don't have to manufacture significance. We can faithfully steward whatever God has placed in front of us today. And our hidden seasons are not wasted seasons. God is forming something in us before he reveals something through us. We just want to get to that other side first. Jesus' faithfulness gives us confidence when our own faithfulness feels weak. We are not perfectly faithful people, and we are broken sinners who lose heart, we get distracted, we doubt, and sometimes even choose our own way. But our hope is not ultimately in how tightly we hold on to Jesus. It is in how faithfully he holds us in the palm of his hand. Lamentations 3 reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning and that great is your faithfulness. That means when I fail, I don't have to stay stuck in shame. I can repent, receive his grace, and take the next final step. and take the next faithful step. Jesus makes faithfulness possible through the Holy Spirit. Tough truth. We have a choice to make, but we don't have to make it in our own strengths. We can choose to be faithful. The Holy Spirit empowers us to respond in faithfulness instead of simply reacting to our circumstance. Faithfulness is not perfection either. It is a life continually surrendering, listening, obeying, and getting back up when we fall. I want Jesus to define my life so that He is the reason I choose how I act. How I respond, how I serve, create, lead, and love. Jesus doesn't simply give us an example of faithfulness to imitate. He gives us the foundation that makes our faithfulness possible. When I remember that Christ was perfectly faithful on my behalf, I don't have to prove myself through my own performance. I can simply receive his grace, trust his faithfulness, and take the next obedient step he puts in front of me. So with that, let me give you some practical things to do with my faithful Fs of tips. All right. number one, focus on the next right thing. You do not have to see the whole staircase. You just have to take the next faithful step in front of you. So ask, what does obedience look like right here? And then do that one thing. Easier said than done sometimes. But that is where I do the most right now is is that I can't I don't plan months of months in advance anymore. I know that's so shocking to so many people. I threw all of that away because clearly God has other plans for me, but just don't know what they are. But I know that I can make that next step. So faithfulness is almost always just a small yes repeater. Okay. Number two, feed on the word daily. you cannot stay faithful to a God you are not spending any time with. I think of Daniel who kept praying three times a day, just as he always had, even when it could cost him his life. His faithfulness in public grew out of a habit he kept in private. So a few honest moments in scripture and prayer is the root system the rest of your faithfulness gross run. So grab that root journal. Yes. Or just grab your Bible and just read a verse. It could be Genesis 1, verse 1. Just pick it up and read it. It doesn't matter how far you get. If you need a starting place, I always recommend the book of John first if you're brand new to the Bible. Number three, follow through on the small promises. Keep the little commitments, the ones no one is checking, because that is where faithfulness is actually being built for you. Every kept promise, even one you made only to yourself, makes the next one easier. So faithful in little is how we become faithful and much. Number four, forget the applause, like Steph said earlier. Do the faithful thing whether anyone notices it or not, because your real audience is God, not social media. My pastor put it well: to be faithful in the ordinary means of grace and trust God to bear fruit in his time. The hidden, unplotted work is never wasted work. Number five, fix your rhythms, just not just your intentions. So Chip Ingram writes in good to great in God's eyes that great Christians are built through small intentional practices repeated over time. I feel like we say this a lot and we're saying the same things, but we have to go back to that norm to to that because that is so important. The small intentional practices is what is going to help keep you grounded throughout your day and that you need to do. Donald Whitney also reminds us in the spiritual disciplines for the Christian life that growth is a lifelong perseverance in the disciplines, not a sprint. So build the small daily rhythms now and let them carry you on the days your feelings do not. And last but not least, fall down, then get back up. Faithfulness is never failing. It is refusing to stay down when you do. When you miss a day or drop the ball, do not quit. Don't start over. Just begin again. every morning is a fresh start. So you never have to drag your yesterday's failures into today. So you're not planning long term anymore. And you just said that you don't have to begin again. You can just like you don't have to start over. You can just begin again. Just begin again. Look how different I am. She's growing, folks. We leveled up in your sanctification. I didn't. Thank you, Jesus. There we go. Maybe faithfulness doesn't look like as dramatic as we sometimes imagine. Maybe it looks like waking up tomorrow and doing the next right thing, like your roots. Maybe it's loving your family, keeping your word, serving when nobody notices. opening God's word when you're discouraged or taking one uncomfortable step of obedience. those ordinary choices may not feel significant today, but God is never careless with our faithfulness. So let's close up this episode on faithfulness. When you're reading your your part that it may need and of course this is social media, but You it makes me think of have you seen the reels of the husband and wife where they pray on the hard days, they pray on the good days. They're praying when they need something, they're praying when they don't need something. And and I think the biggest thing about all of this, is just the reminders that we just have to pray. And that no matter if it's good or we're going through that hard season, is that we continue to pray because that is how we are working and And speaking to God into what's going on. And it's that rhythm of continuing to pray no matter what's going on in your life. So God is not looking for impressive. He is looking for faithful. And the quiet guess you give him right where you are now. You do not have to do anything huge this week. easy thing to do is just do the next small right thing, and then do it again tomorrow. And I don't get to choose that for you. You need to choose that for you and really sit in to ask the Holy Spirit to show that to you. Remember that the small things are not small to God. He sees every unnoticed act of faithfulness and he is never careless with any of it. So on the days that it feels small and unseen, do not give. Keep taking the next faithful step and trust that the faithful God is weaving your ordinary obedience into something that will outlast you. Remember that Lamentations three, it reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning and that great is his faithfulness. Your limitations don't disqualify you from a faithful life. Sally Clarkson says that in order to thrive and heal, we have to accept our limitations by faith, trust God's faithfulness each step of the way, and wait for his grace. Sometimes faithfulness is accepting what God has allowed instead of consistently fighting for a different story. We can say, Lord, whatever you have placed in front of me, help me to steward it faithfully. And that's the story I want to tell in my life. Not that I accomplished everything or had everything figured out. But that I listened when God called, I took the next step when I was afraid, and I served people that he gave me, trusted him with what I couldn't control. Our stories live faithfully become part of the tapestry God is weaving for his glory. So just remember that we have the power to choose faithfulness because we have the Holy Spirit. It's not reserved for people who naturally have more discipline or stronger personalities. The Spirit is at work in us. So that's a wrap on faithfulness. Next time we're going to talk about gentleness in a harsh world. and a culture that rewards being loud, reactive, and quick to defend ourselves. What does it look like to respond with gentleness of Jesus without becoming passive or silent? We'll talk about how gentleness can actually be a strength and how the Holy Spirit can change the way that we respond when life gets hard. So until next week. We'll see you then. Bye, friend. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Grounded Growth. We hope today brought you clarity, encouragement, and a gentle reminder that you're not walking this journey alone. If this episode spoke to you, we'd love for you to share it, subscribe, and leave a review. We'll see you next week. Until then, Stephanie Petry: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Grounded Growth. We hope today brought you clarity, encouragement, and a gentle reminder that you're not walking this journey alone. If this episode spoke to you, we'd love for you to share it, subscribe, and leave a review. We'll see you next week. Until then, stay grounded and keep growing. Nicole Ghirardi: stay grounded and keep growing.