By the second week of September, the shine has usually worn off.
The first-day excitement has quietly packed its lunch and gone home. New notebooks already have dog-eared corners. Calendars are beginning to fill with appointments written in increasingly frantic handwriting. Parents have rediscovered that “extracurricular activity” is simply a polite phrase meaning, “You will now spend every evening driving somewhere.”
Even the coffee maker begins to sigh a little more heavily by Wednesday morning.
I have often suspected that Wednesday is one of God’s favourite days.
Not because it is exciting.
Quite the opposite.
Monday has ambition. Friday has anticipation. Sunday has worship. But Wednesday simply has… persistence.
It quietly asks us to keep going.
There is something almost heroic about an ordinary Wednesday. Nobody hangs banners because they survived it. There are very few greeting cards that proclaim, Congratulations on making it to the middle of the week! Hallmark has apparently overlooked this obvious gap in the market.
Yet Scripture consistently reminds us that God has always been remarkably interested in ordinary perseverance.
The Apostle Paul speaks about running the race with endurance. Jesus tells stories about servants who simply remain faithful. The Psalms celebrate those who continue trusting the Lord through seasons that are long and unremarkable.
Faith is rarely built during spectacular moments.
More often it grows on Wednesdays.
It grows while lunches are packed before sunrise.
It grows while answering one more email with kindness instead of irritation.
It grows while making another school run, folding another basket of laundry, preparing another ordinary supper, saying another ordinary prayer before another ordinary bedtime.
The Kingdom of God has never been embarrassed by repetition.
In fact, repetition is one of God’s favourite teaching methods.
Every sunrise repeats itself.
Every season returns.
The tides refuse to become bored.
Our hearts beat with astonishing consistency without ever demanding applause.
Creation itself is a great hymn sung in recurring verses.
Why should our discipleship be any different?
I sometimes think we underestimate the spiritual significance of simply showing up.
We admire dramatic conversions, extraordinary missionaries, courageous saints, and rightly so. But beneath every remarkable Christian life is an astonishing collection of very ordinary Wednesdays where someone quietly chose faithfulness instead of giving up.
No headlines.
No standing ovation.
Just another day of trusting Christ.
Canadians possess a curious ability to endure almost anything provided there is sufficient coffee and nobody makes too much fuss about it. While I cannot verify the theological accuracy of that statement, I can certainly testify to its practical usefulness. There are mornings when the aroma of fresh coffee feels suspiciously close to a sacramental experience.
Perhaps that is because God delights in meeting us precisely where life feels wonderfully ordinary.
There is profound grace in discovering that holiness does not depend upon constant inspiration. Some days discipleship feels exhilarating. Other days it feels rather like emptying the dishwasher for the seven thousandth time.
Curiously enough, both can be acts of worship.
September gently reminds us that the Christian life is not a sprint fuelled by enthusiasm. It is a pilgrimage sustained by grace.
One steady step.
One quiet prayer.
One faithful Wednesday.
And all the while, Christ walks beside us, smiling far more at our persistence than we often imagine.
Perhaps today does not need to be extraordinary.
Perhaps it simply needs to be faithfully lived.
That has always been enough for the God who specializes in turning ordinary days into holy ones.
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Companion Prayer
Faithful God,
Thank you for meeting us not only in life’s great celebrations, but also in its ordinary Wednesdays. Give us grace to be faithful in the small tasks, patient in the repeated routines, and joyful in the quiet work of loving and serving others. Help us to trust that no ordinary day is ever wasted when it is lived with you. Walk beside us today, and make our everyday lives a witness to your extraordinary love.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.