Daily Prayer: Doing Good When You'd Rather Just Rest
Daily Prayer: Doing Good When You'd Rather Just Rest
"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
— Galatians 6:10
Here's a fun little Monday morning thought: what if "opportunity" in this verse actually means every single moment, including the ones where you are already in your pajamas, holding coffee, and hoping no one needs anything from you for at least eleven more minutes?
Because that's kind of where I am right now.
It's a Monday in late spring, the kind of morning where the light looks genuinely hopeful outside but your to-do list does not. The week is fresh. The laundry is not. And somewhere between getting myself ready for work and answering a text from my adult kid, I passed right by an opportunity to be kind — and I knew it, and I kept scrolling anyway.
The Word "Opportunity" Is Doing a Lot of Heavy Lifting Here
Paul didn't say "as you feel emotionally available." He didn't say "when your energy levels are optimal and your schedule has margin." He said as we have opportunity.
Which is almost all the time, if I'm being honest with myself.
There's a co-worker who always looks a little frazzled on Mondays. There's the group chat from church that I've been meaning to respond to for three days. There's my husband, who I sometimes treat like background furniture after a long day when he is, in fact, a whole human being who would probably love five minutes of actual eye contact.
Opportunity is everywhere. I just keep accidentally being too busy to notice it.
The "Especially" Part Gets Me Every Time
Paul makes a point to say especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
That's the church. That's the people in your small group who already know about the season you went through last year. That's the woman at Sunday service you keep meaning to check in with. That's your sister in Christ who texted you "just thinking of you" two weeks ago and you heart-reacted it and moved on.
I think sometimes we assume the people closest to us in faith are fine because they seem fine. They're at church. They're posting Scripture. They're serving in the nursery.
But "fine" is a very convincing costume.
As someone who has worn that costume many times myself — usually on a Sunday, usually with a smile — I should know better than to take it at face value.
What "Doing Good" Actually Looks Like on a Regular Tuesday
It doesn't always look like a grand gesture. I think we build that up in our heads and then do nothing because we can't do everything.
Sometimes doing good looks like sending the actual text instead of drafting it in your head and calling it good. Sometimes it's dropping off dinner without making the other person feel like a charity case. Sometimes it's just sitting with someone and not trying to fix a single thing.
I'm a working mom with an adult child who still needs me in different ways than he used to, a marriage that requires actual tending, and a job that takes a good chunk of my brain Monday through Friday. I don't have unlimited bandwidth. Neither do you, probably.
But I do have moments. Small windows. A lunch break. The drive home. The two minutes before I fall asleep where I could say a quick prayer for someone instead of watching one more video about a topic I don't need to know anything about.
Those are opportunities. Real ones.
The Permission We're Actually Being Given
Here's what I find oddly comforting about this verse: it doesn't demand perfection. It doesn't say do good to everyone at all times without ceasing or you've failed.
It says as we have opportunity.
There's grace built into that. There's room for the days when you're running on fumes and the best you can do is not be unkind. And then there's the invitation — on the days when you do have a little more to give — to actually give it.
Not to earn anything. Not to look good. Just because someone needs it and you happened to be standing right there.
That's it. That's the whole assignment.
A Prayer for Today
God, honestly — I walk past people every single day who could use something I have to give, and I'm often too in my own head to notice. Help me actually see the opportunities right in front of me today. Not the big dramatic ones. The small, real ones. The text I keep putting off. The co-worker who looks like she's barely holding it together. My husband. My kid.
I don't want to be someone who just feels good about caring. I want to actually do something about it. Give me eyes that notice and a heart that follows through, even when I'm tired. Especially then, probably.
And thank you for the people who've done good to me when they didn't have to. I know who they are. I haven't forgotten.
Amen.
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