A few weeks before Bible Day Camp, I asked our youth pastor if he needed any help. He said he felt prepared but might need a driver and chaperone for the trip to the lake midweek.
I volunteered to help, but when Wednesday morning arrived, I had a slight feeling of dread. Although I knew I would enjoy the day, I wanted to stay home and write. But I had given my word and didn’t want any camper to miss the eagerly awaited day of hiking, swimming, and kayaking. So I cleaned out my car and drove to the church, prepared to take as many kids as I could legally fit.
When I arrived at camp, I discovered a team of drivers already assigned to transport everyone to the lake. The leader assured me they still needed a chaperone for the hike and a driver for the trip home. I missed the amusing backseat banter but enjoyed listening to worship music as I drove the half hour to the lake alone.
When I arrived, I found three adults waiting to accompany ten hikers. Once again, I wasn’t needed.
I hiked anyway because I had a long wait until the end of the day when I could haul kids back to the church. But several hours later, one of the leaders informed me she had arranged return transport for all the campers. I was free to go.
I thought that serving at Bible Day Camp would be helpful. But by the end of the day, I felt discouraged, wondering why I had spent my day serving no one.
*****
I had already planned to write this article when I “served” at camp. Initially, I thought I would center it around Paul’s words, “[N]othing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58b NLT). I intended to write about how God sees our hidden acts and knows our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; Jeremiah 17:10). In fact, he tells us to give, pray, and fast in secret (Matthew 6:3, 6, 16–18). I would focus on how we should concern ourselves with pleasing God, who sees the unseen, not performing for people or worrying about the impact of our deeds. We plant in obedience. God brings the fruit. The end.
But while all of that is true, as I began to organize my thoughts, God revealed a different plan. He showed me why I often feel frustrated by efforts that seem worthless. As I squirmed under his hand of conviction, he exposed my faulty (i.e., sinful) thinking and actions that needed to change. You may relate to some of them. I am guilty of it all.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look: What Really Happened on Bible Day Camp’s Wasted Afternoon
Truth: I volunteered for Bible Day Camp because I felt I should “do something,” rather than sit at home and write articles about Jesus all day.
I wanted to be seen.
I want to believe I am different from the Pharisees who did their works publicly so others would praise them (Matthew 23:5–7). While I don’t want credit for every little thing I do, I also don’t want to be viewed as a slacker! I spend a lot of time writing, so sometimes I look for more visible activities to bolster my “good Christian” resume in hopes that people won’t think I spend my days binging Netflix. But pleasing men rather than God often leads me to do things outside of my gifting, which rarely goes well.
Ask me about my stint teaching children’s church. On second thought––don’t.
I fell into the comparison trap.
I often compare myself to women who rescue sex trafficked girls, adopt kids from foster care, or start hospitals in places without running water. When I read their stories, I feel simultaneously encouraged and depressed. I love to hear how God works through obedient women who follow his call, but by comparison, my works feel desperately inadequate.
The enemy whispers, “You’re not enough,” and I agree. But rather than telling him God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV), I let him continue to bend my ear. And he leads me nowhere good.
He contrasts my lame attempts at evangelism with the success of my extroverted friend, who regularly shares the gospel with strangers at the Dollar Tree. Or he provokes my writer’s insecurity by bringing to mind much younger women who have already published multiple books. He encourages me to covet the gifts of others by making their callings seem more important than sitting at home writing this article.
Comparing makes me want to do more for God—which is good—but that desire can intermingle with a self-exalting aspiration to do more important things for God. I occasionally stomp my feet like a toddler and whine that I want to be a piece of pottery for “honorable,” not “dishonorable” use, thus making me unfit for both (Romans 9:21 ESV).
I didn’t pray.
In my pride and arrogance, I didn’t bother to ask God if he wanted me to serve at Bible Day Camp. I assumed it would please him. Queue the list of biblical examples where people failed to inquire of the Lord, and things ended badly.
- God put Saul to death for failing to consult him (1 Chronicles 10:14).
- Because Joshua acted without praying, the Gibeonites deceived him into making a forbidden covenant (Joshua 9:3–27).
- David conducted a census without God’s approval, leading to a plague that killed seventy thousand men (2 Samuel 24:1–17).
I’m grateful my prayerlessness did not result in a plague.
I tried to work for God, without God.
People can achieve worldly success by working in their flesh. But as Chuck Swindoll writes in his book The Grace Awakening, “There is no glory vertically. And equally tragic, there is no grace horizontally.”1 He goes on to say, “The work of the flesh will amount to zilch in light of eternity. The glory will belong to the person who made it happen, and the rewards will stop there too.”2
When God changed my plans for this article, I realized I had stopped listening to the Holy Spirit. I had slipped into working in my own strength—which was really no strength at all—since I was unable to put two sentences together. God often frustrates my efforts until I realize he is trying to get my attention.
I worshiped the idol of productivity.
I want to be productive like my zucchini plants, which have produced nearly fifty ginormous “clubs” (as my neighbor calls them) this summer. But my output feels more like my string bean vines, from which I’ve garnered exactly eleven anemic gems—too tough to eat.
While God dislikes laziness, productivity can become an idol if I only feel good about myself when I accomplish something. This mentality makes rest impossible. In fact, as pastor Ian Simkins says, “Rest feels like stress, when business is how you medicate.”3
Our society determines success by our achievements. When I judge myself by worldly standards, I forget that God isn’t measuring my perfect outcomes. He wants me to abide in him, which will produce fruit, but our relationship matters more than my usefulness as his servant.
I focused on myself rather than Christ.
When I examined my desire to “make a difference,” I realized that the godly men and women in the Bible never seemed to worry about the outcome of their obedience—even when God asked them to do strange things, like marry a prostitute, bury underwear in a muddy crevice, or lie on their side for more than a year (Hosea 1:2; Jeremiah 13:1–11; Ezekiel 4:4–8).
While people questioned God about many things, they trusted his plans would not be thwarted (Job 42:2). God decides what will make a difference. My job is to obey the known will of God as outlined in the Bible, guided by the Holy Spirit. I may never know—nor do I need to understand—the impact of my actions.
God Wastes Nothing
From my camp experience, I learned that just because something seems like a good idea doesn’t mean it’s God’s idea. If I had asked him, God might have closed the door on Bible Day Camp, thus allowing me to focus on what I should have been doing.
Paul writes that we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV). But to do this, we must listen for his voice saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21 ESV).
I want to spend more time doing the things he has planned for me and less time making passenger-less trips to the lake. Thankfully, “for those who love God all things work together for good.” (Romans 8:28 ESV). He used my experience to show me where I had gone off course, and thus, my “wasted afternoon” was not wasted after all.
Next Steps to Consider
Have I taken my eyes off Jesus?
When frustrated by my lack of impact, I now reflect on whether I have shifted focus from Christ to myself. Some warning signs include:
- Thinking about completing my agenda, not his.
- Bible reading and prayer feel like things to check off a to-do list. Writer and Bible teacher, Jana Carlson, says her time with the Lord “becomes more about completion than communion.”4
- I fixate on my insurmountable problems rather than bringing them to the one who can help.
I thank God when he alerts me to my wandering, so I can ask for his forgiveness and return to abiding in him.
Have I assessed my giftings?
God has given each of us talents and spiritual gifts to be used for his glory (Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, 28). While he may invite us out of our comfort zone, he wired each of us to enjoy and excel at certain tasks. Knowing our gifts can help us determine the opportunities to which he has called us.
That said, God does prepare the unqualified. If he calls you to be a missionary and you stink at learning languages, he will equip you.
Have I obeyed everything he already asked me to do?
When God invited me to attend seminary, I ran to Tarshish, hopped on a boat, and cruised around the Mediterranean for three years before obeying.5 As I sailed, I felt frustrated that God would not give me anything to do. Only in hindsight did I realize he had given me something to do!
When I do not have direction from the Lord, I now ask myself, “Has he already asked me to do something that I have avoided, delayed, or flat-out said ‘no’ to?”
Consider the season.
If you feel unproductive, perhaps God has called you to a season of rest. Maybe he wants to restore your soil to produce again in the future. This can feel uncomfortable to those of us who like to strive.
Maybe the results of your efforts will take years to materialize, rather than days. If you’re raising children––a vital but often thankless task––you might not see results for a long time. Whatever season we are in, we must “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 ESV) so we can discern the things he has for us.
- Charles Swindoll, The Grace Awakening (Thomas Nelson, 2010), 202. ↩︎
- Swindoll, The Grace Awakening, 201. ↩︎
- Ian Simkins, on The Holy Shift Show Podcast, Christine Crawford, host, podcast, episode 18, “Being with and Becoming Life Jesus,” June 21, 2023, https://theholyshift.org/ep-18-being-with-and-becoming-like-jesus/. ↩︎
- Jana Carlson, Worthy Words (newsletter), sent on August 31, 2025. ↩︎
- See Jonah 1:3–2:10. ↩︎
Photo credit: Jenna Martin
Karen discovered her love of writing while a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. Her passions include biblical literacy and apologetics, especially for believers. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her family, traveling, and geeking out on the Bible. Her work has been published inFathom Mag,Heart of Flesh Literary Journal,Just Between Us,SOULfood Saturday, and other places. You can follow her on Instagram @karen.abeyta.7.
1 comment
That’s great wonderful