She might not fill an arena or write a bestseller. You won’t find her hosting the latest podcast. By all modern standards, she would not qualify as an influencer. But sit in her presence for a while, and you’ll find yourself never wanting to leave.

Mrs. Gene was my mother’s preschool teacher, then a deacon’s wife and Sunday school teacher in the early years of my own childhood. She never held an official title at our church, but our pastor once wept at the very mention of her name. He said that at the end of one of his worst days in ministry, he realized she had been in the prayer room all day, interceding on his behalf.

To sit with Mrs. Gene is like sitting under a blessing—I want to open my hands and receive every word she has to say. Her wisdom is hard earned. She lives in a southwest Louisiana town that bears the scars of multiple hurricanes. She cared for her precious husband as dementia came like a thief for his memory. And yet, with tears in her eyes, she will tell me how good the Lord has been to her. Mrs. Gene doesn’t need to cross the country giving speeches on a good life—she has simply lived one.

Biblical Lessons on Faith from Timothy’s Pillars

On front porches and at kitchen tables, in prayer closets and church-nursery rocking chairs, people like Mrs. Gene are all around us. The deepest handprints on our lives come from men and women who are not marked by fanfare but by what Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.”¹ Their lives are not made up of a few grand heroic deeds but by a million tiny choices to be faithful.

In his second letter to his spiritual son, Paul recalled Timothy’s own matriarchs. Lois and Eunice take up little real estate in the pages of Scripture; there are no cathedrals or seminaries named in their honor. Yet they were pillars for Timothy, grounding him in the gospel when both he and the Christian church were in their formative years. Paul knew that our faith—while not automatically inherited through bloodlines—is passed down through the steady hands of older generations. Humble devotion is a silent rebellion against a culture that constantly chases fame. In a world of cameras and spotlights, we would do well to recall our Loises, Eunices, and Mrs. Genes.

Choosing a Quiet, Faithful Life in a Digital Age

In a digital age where everyday moments become public posts, meekness seems like an outdated trait. The world doesn’t tell us to build virtue but a personal brand, measuring success with followers, likes, and shares. In a social media economy, breadth of influence wins over depth of character every time. We curate our image, carving and polishing it to sculpt a statue bearing our likeness. In doing so, we forget that Scripture does not call us to be monuments but pillars.

In the Old Testament, when people made monuments of themselves, it was seen as folly at best and an abomination at worst. Statues were built by glory thieves, those who forgot the true Creator and Sustainer and grasped for their own fleeting notoriety. But when David blessed the people of Israel, he asked that “our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the structure of a palace” (Psalm 144:12, ESV). Pillars are meant to hold up something greater than themselves. They are not merely ornamental but essential to a building’s structure. Monument makers are self-serving, but pillars of faith hold up the body of believers, even when they sit unnoticed.

Practicing Secret Devotion: Jesus’s Call to Hidden Holiness

Although He lived two millennia before cell phones and reality television, Jesus knew that our desire to steal the show went back as far as Eden. In the Sermon on the Mount, He called out religious leaders who used the sacred disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving as mere means to an egocentric end. But with every call of conviction came a promise: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:4). Hidden lives are not meaningless, for the One whose opinion matters most never takes His eyes off us.

The charge to pursue holiness in the prayer closet instead of on the street corner was one Jesus lived out Himself. He often escaped to hidden places to pray. Decades of His life went unrecorded, likely spent working His father’s trade. Years before Paul wrote the words, Jesus aspired to live quietly, mind His affairs, and work with His hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

Finding Spiritual Purpose Through Our Faith Pillars

This week, I will wear out the same tired path of pavement on my suburban streets, driving my boys to practices and making runs to the grocery store. On Sunday, I’ll find myself in a children’s ministry classroom, doling out markers, paper, and snacks. After the service, I will stand by my husband’s side as an elder’s wife. I know that in these unremarkable moments, lies can come at me like piercing arrows. They tell me that I haven’t made enough of myself, that my contribution to the world is embarrassingly small.

And then I’ll think of Mrs. Gene.

A lump will creep up my throat. My eyes might even cloud with tears. The lies will evaporate as I recall other pillars of faith, steady as a grove of oak trees, bulwarks against a frenzied world. Sitting in the gentle shade of their presence stills my mind and strengthens my resolve to offer the same covering to the next generation. May the Lord grow us in secret places, ground us in His Word, and hold us fast through every wind of change. After all, deep roots are notoriously hidden things.

Notes

1. Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (InterVarsity Press, 2000).

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Author Bio

Tracy Cooney lives in Conway, Arkansas with her husband and three boys. She loves writing for her local church, reading a good book, and watching birds.

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