My Ordinary Life

My life is not likely going to be made into a movie. I’d love for my romance with my husband to be turned into a Hallmark Christmas movie, but we can’t twist our reality into the traditional “Hallmark” formula (if you watch these movies as avidly as we do, you know what I mean!) Not that I have not had my adventures, but I don’t think they are what the world would classify as adventurous, glamorous, or in many ways even successful. I am fine with that. I am not looking to be glamorous or successful in the eyes of the world.

I have dreams and goals. Big ones. I have things that God has whispered to me that will happen one day and I am excited about them, but there is a lot of waiting between now and then it seems. Some days I wonder what is supposed to happen in the meantime.

I was reading in the book of Romans this week and I think I found an answer. In the Message translation, Romans 12:2 says:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

My friends, here are some things to do in that waiting season! God wants me to take this ordinary life of mine and give it to Him to use, to make beautiful. My life is what this verse describes, day after day of sleeping, eating (counting my WW points), going to work and walking around (that means chores and workouts to me). It seems like this ordinary life doesn’t account for much when you want to change the world, but maybe it can!

Embracing what God does for me – that is, His provision, protection, salvation and that song He keeps in my heart. When I hold that close in mind I know that He does not provide for, protect and save something that has no purpose, so I have purpose, even when I don’t see it. God wants our attention and sometimes we have to sit awhile on the sidelines so we are not distracted by, or keep chasing, other things. God does many things to get our attention, and He often uses the waiting room to get mine. When I wait and focus my attention on God then I can see what He wants from me today, in this season, and then upon recognizing it, I can do it.

God’s plan is huge and wonderful, with billions of moving parts. If you do that seemingly small thing that God impresses on you to do today – make a call, send a text, give something to a stranger, agree in prayer with a friend – you can start a chain reaction of those moving parts which could lead to someone’s miracle – maybe even yours! Whether you see the evidence of the chain reaction or not, God uses these “ordinary” things to bring out the best in us – bringing out His nature in us. When we exhibit His character in this dark world, this is how we become world-changers.

The other side of this focusing on the ordinary day offerings to God, is standing in confidence to be different. How can I fully exhibit God’s characteristics to this world if I am camouflaged in it? I am unique. You are unique. Every piece of art in a gallery does not look alike. Depending on who is looking at it, some of it looks like it doesn’t even belong in a gallery. But that’s not up to the crowd to decide – it’s up to the artist. The Artist of my life may mold me differently or use materials that don’t seem to be what is trendy, but when the time is right, it will come together and the Artist will be satisfied. That is all that matters to me. My ordinary life will become His masterpiece and the meaning will be clear – to show His love for His creation.

You are a masterpiece in progress too. Has God whispered part of His dreams for you in your ear? Have you felt rejected or dismissed for living God’s will for your life because people around you do not understand it? Are you the one sitting on the shelf next to me? My tears fall for you today, as I feel your desire to live your purpose, fulfilling the dream God planted in your heart. Your time will come, my friend, as will mine. God’s promises always come to pass. Of this, I am very sure.

For today, this ordinary day, focus on God and whatever is before you. Do it for Him, in a response of love and thankfulness for all He has done. Be confident that He is at work, even if you don’t see evidence of it today. Shine in your uniqueness and dare to smile in the ordinary, knowing the Artist is at work creating a treasure from the inside out.