I recently read Drew Dyck’s book, Just Show Up: How Small Acts of Faithfulness Change Everything (A Guide for Exhausted Christians). It’s an easy read, with its self-deprecating humor and relatable stories—and yet deceptively deep and thought-provoking as well.
Let me list several chapter titles—to give a feel for this good book:
- Join the plodders: You don’t have to move fast. You just have to keep moving. God’s in no hurry, yet there’s no telling what he might do through humble servants who keep showing up.
- Show up in person—because people need your presence more than your words. But our post-pandemic age of remote work and “online communities” makes this hard. It’s never been easier to avoid people. Of course, “Virtual connection isn’t all bad. But these tools can never replace in-person interactions.”
- Be a “Long-Haul Hero”: Invest in fewer people for deeper impact. Social media may grant you thousands of “friends,” but in the end what really matters is how well you loved the people God placed in your life. And that takes time.
- Just crack open your Bible—even when you don’t feel like it.
- Show up for church—even if you’re late.
- Let something slide—because you can’t show up for everything. In fact, glimpsing the brevity of life brings a certain freedom.
- Keep wrestling with God: Don’t let doubts derail your faith.
Now, in case you think the author is urging Christians to settle for small, insignificant lives, think again. The point is that coming to terms with our finitude, with our weakness and consequent need for God’s help at every turn, is the path forward both for our peace and for major, meaningful impact in the lives of others.
Just Show Up is about contentment—learning to be okay with the oft-slow pace at which God brings about change in our hearts. And learning to rest in his strong arms, knowing he’s at work for our good as he sees fit. So, “Be still” (Psalm 46:10).
