Onesimus – At Home AND at Work

There is a story in the Bible about this slave who is now going to be coming back to his master from prison.  Paul, someone who previously slaughtered Christians, requested that his owner take him back as a brother.  Onesimus was the slave’s name, and it means useful.  We are all meant to be useful, and yet we find ourselves feeling less than useful and, quite honestly, useless, at times.  I am the mother of three amazing little people, and after hours upon hours and days upon days of taking care of them, I often wonder if I am doing any good?  I believe the lie that I am not useful.  It can be hard to be a woman (I am sure the struggle is just as real for you fellas, but I have no idea how that translates, so I won’t pretend I do).  I have been meeting for Bible study with a group of amazing ladies this summer, and it seems there is a common theme amongst us: we just don’t feel like we’re doing enough, like we’re being enough, getting enough done, spending enough time, enough.. enough..enough!!!  Why do we do this to ourselves, ladies?  Why can’t we believe we are as useful as we are told we can be?  Sometimes I find myself in a tornado of laundry, dishes, grading, tiny butt wiping, and I think “where is my purpose?” “When will I be able to be useful again?”  What a lie!  We are being useful in it all!  If you are working, your work is useful!  If you are cleaning your house: useful!  We all have purpose in and outside of the home.   We have callings to our kids and our husbands/significant others, but we also have callings outside of the home.  Why do we constantly berate ourselves for being useful in one arena but not the other?  Stay-at-home moms think “I should be doing something out in the community” and they don’t see how valuable and useful they are to those they care for!  Working moms think “I should be at home taking care of my babies”, when they don’t see the lives they have changed in front of them or the meaningful work they have been called to do!  I guess my point is, accept that you can be useful in ANY circumstance.  Interesting that the message of our study today was on being good – doing good.  That can be done anywhere!  Paul found a slave, in prison, called him brother and asked his friend, Philemon to take him back with kindness.  He found him to be useful, the guy whose name meant useful could finally live up to it ;)  Philemon 8:20 says, “Yes my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake”.  If you look into the meaning of word favor here, the greek root is Onaimen, which is a play on the name Onesimus.  No joke.  Paul is saying, be useful, and take this brother to be useful, who was always meant to be useful.  I think that is the same for all of us.  We are meant to be useful and we trick ourselves into thinking we aren’t.  How can we “do good” and how can we show love to those around us?  Maybe it isn’t as complex as we think.  Maybe it’s being understanding when our toddler pees all over the floor, or maybe it’s volunteering somewhere.  Maybe it’s a letter of encouragement to a friend, or simply picking up some garbage off the street.  I believe it is written in each of us to BE USEFUL.  Then, when you are being useful, believe it!  The minute you believe you are useless, you can’t be used and if you can’t be used, you can’t be useful.  To all the working moms out there: you are awesome!  You are useful!  To the stay-at-home moms: you are useful!  You are awesome!  Let’s stop this whole mommy war thing and encourage each other that we can be useful in whatever situation we are in!  We are all Onesimus, if we allow it.