What Potty Training Taught Me About Obedience

It was the perfect day for a leisurely walk, complete with sunglasses and a 16-week bulging belly. I trotted alongside my husband who effortlessly pushed the toddler-bearing stroller while I happily huffed and puffed to keep up. This is my nirvana: outdoor cardio with the sun burning bright. 

I was completely serene. Nothing could touch the elation that had engulfed my senses. I took in every ounce of my surroundings, holding my belly for support then looking down to admire my bump. That’s when I saw it. A dark and drooping streak of brown on my stomach. I scratched, sniffed (big mistake), and sighed, “I have poop on my shirt.” 

Potty training our toddler has been full of many moments like this: finding a trail of urine that spans the length of a hallway, sniffing a mysterious brown spot on your shirt, and showing more excitement over dry underwear than you did at your own graduation. Sometimes obedience looks like that, doesn’t it? It’s the long, slow march of mundane faithfulness. It’s the unseen, undervalued, and oftentimes unappreciated picture of calling that you might not hear about in a Sunday sermon, but I’ve never known a more accurate illustration of obedience. 

Like when Esther was trafficked and quite possibly raped (Esther 2:2-4), winning the pleasure of a man she didn’t know. Her position left her poised but not protected. Even a queen is not immune to the risk of doing what’s right.

Or maybe it’s like Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 whose bold wisdom saved her house from the foolishness of her own husband. How many times before that moment must she have chosen wisdom in the face of a rash and arrogant man? How long did she persevere in faithfulness?

Or perhaps it’s like Ezekiel, one of the most sacrificial and sequestered prophets in the Old Testament. His obedience looked like eating bread baked with cow poop (Ezekiel 4:15), losing loved ones (Ezekiel 24:15-27), and preaching a message of judgement that didn’t get many ‘likes’. 

Anonymous obedience becomes authoritative influence. Maybe not for a while, and probably not in the way you planned. It certainly won’t look like what you envisioned. But obedience always makes room for abundance, and that’s a promise we can take to the bank. 

One thing I know? Mundane faithfulness means much in the Kingdom of God.