“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God...”-Acts 2:46-47
This may seem obvious to some, but I often find myself forgetting that the Bible is a highlights reel, not an exhaustive historical account spanning millennia. I have, on more than one occasion, found myself a little depressed at how “ordinary” my faith life is and has been. I often feel like God isn’t doing a whole lot in my life or through me, because I’m just “going with the flow” of daily routine.
Occasionally the Bible gives snippets of “ordinary”, such as the early believers hanging out and eating together, and I find myself wishing for more of these glimpses into the ordinary life of Bible heroes. Like, what did Jesus do on his days off? He was in ministry for three years--that’s almost 1100 days---but the Bible only recounts a few sermons and miracles. While John says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, ...even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." I still think that Jesus had to have had some “ordinary” days in his ministry. Quiet days with his disciples, or days of journeying from point A to point B.
Even if Jesus didn’t take a single day off in his 3 years of ministry, what about his 30 years of life prior to ministry?? This is an area that definitely has me curious. What was Jesus like as a child, teenager, and young man? What was his day-to-day life like? I would wager a guess that his pre-ministry life was pretty ordinary and routine. However, I’m sure we can all agree that his life and faith was still anything but ordinary.
Jesus was in active miraculous ministry for approximately 10% of his life on earth (and within that 10% we don’t know how much time was spent doing something extraordinary---take out time sleeping, eating, and “off” days and that number probably drops to 5%). His pre-ministry years were a blessing. Comfortable routine and uneventful ordinary are the times of preparation. We learn skills and grow into faithful people who can be effective when we are called by God for those extraordinary moments of miraculous wonder.
These are the things I have to try to remember when I am antsy to do “big things” for God and when I feel like “ordinary” life isn't enough. I fall into the trap of thinking that my day-to-day life is a waste of time and that I’m not doing anything worthwhile if I’m not out there actively preaching or some other extraordinary reflection of faith. I forget that ordinary days are necessary to prepare for extraordinary days, because extraordinary days are also extremely difficult days. Just look at the sacrifices the heroes of the Bible had to make in order to be considered extraordinary in their faith: Abraham had to be willing to kill his only son (that he had waited nearly 100 years for!). Noah had to be willing to spend an incredible amount of time and money looking crazy to his peers. David had to be willing to die facing a giant. Jesus and his disciples had to be willing to give all their time, energy, and--eventually--their lives. Extraordinary faith requires painful sacrifice.
We live in an age of celebrity. An age where doing something amazing gets you fame and fortune. Perhaps my desire for the extraordinary is really a naive and selfish desire for recognition--by God and by others. Instead of trying to be extraordinary, I should be looking for the everyday “extraordinary ordinary” that God has made possible. The extraordinary facts that follow me daily are:
-I am an adopted child of God!
-I have had all my impossible sin-debts paid for because God’s only Son died for me
-Death has been conquered by that Son who rose again---I will never die! I do not have to fear death!
-I have the honour and opportunity to have a personal, intimate, one-on-one relationship with the God of the Universe. Yep, that’s right… I can talk directly to him anytime I want. We can have a conversation.
-I have the very Spirit of God living in me. This means that God can transform me and direct me and maybe---just maybe---do extraordinary things through me.
A day in Christ is never ordinary. We live a life that, through faith, is an extraordinary ordinary. Our purpose isn’t to try and make our lives/faith extraordinary for God. Our job is to be on the lookout for the extraordinary things God is doing everyday and join Him there, in whatever way He enables us. This means we might be in the cheering crowd simply praising God for what He’s doing, or it might mean we’re thrown into the middle of the game as a key player that God is going to use to score a touchdown. Running onto the field to try and make ourselves extraordinary is not only unhelpful, we’re in for a serious reality check and a lesson in humility when the Coach kicks us off to the sidelines and tells us to get out His way.
We have an extraordinary God and He is the only one who can do amazing things. He has told us outright, “If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). Our job is simple: remain in Him, follow His direction and amazing things will happen. Try to do it on our own and we’ll end up worse than ordinary---we’ll end up a nuisance.
God,
I’m ready to stop trying so hard. It was really exhausting anyway. Open my eyes and help me to see the extraordinary things that you are doing all around me every day, and allow me to join You in whatever way You see fit. I can be a cheering fan in the stands, a janitor cleaning up after others, or a key player in the game, it’s up to You. Help me to see the importance and honour in each of these roles and to resist the temptation to force myself into a role that I’m not ready for and You don’t intend for me.
Thank you, Father, for the “highlight reel” You’ve already created in my own life. Don’t let me forget those highlights in my ordinary or low times.
Praying in and through Christ,
Amen.
