I believe with all my heart that every single one of us has been called to greatness and significance. Not that we find that on our own or in this world, but in who we are as children of God. When we come to grips with just how insignificant we are, we are then qualified to encounter our true and eternal significance in Christ. Also as it says in Scripture, I believe as Christians we go from glory to glory. Yet that path is paved on the roads of trials and the mundane. It’s when we journey on that very road that prepares us to steward the next “glory”.
As human beings we tend to gravitate towards greatness and amazing. I think that’s normal because that’s what we were created for! Yet the issue today is in our demand for it right now and without any costs. If I’m honest, I fight the temptation to make everything I do for God grand and spectacular because if it isn’t, it’s a failure. My sermon either has to be the best I’ve ever preached or it’s awful. The event I plan has to have tons of people come or else why bother. Why can’t something just be what it is without having to be spectacular? There’s this mindset and pressure to make something more than it is. To be epic. To be monumental. To be grand and great.
You are the BE-loved, not the “DO-this-then-you’re-loved” Click To TweetFor many believers, much of that has to do with wanting to prove our love for God or wanting God to prove His love for us. But the truth is I am the beloved, not the “do-this-then-you’re-loved”. Just be who you are and be loved for that. That’s enough. You are enough for God. But sadly, how often do we miss out on God because we can’t wait to be more than average and escape the normal routines of life. It’s in the average, the just okays, and in the monotony of life where God just meets us with love. That’s when we truly learn what it means to be loved and enjoyed by Him. Not in our doing or performing, but in our being.
There’s a joy and blessing found in just being. Even if it’s just being average because there’s the supernatural of being ordinary. What I mean by that is that in the normal and ho-hum moments of life, we can still meet with God. It’s in that very place we cultivate intimacy and friendship with Him for no other reason than to know Him more. Not being in a hurry to live an extraordinary life or reducing life into an existence of just going from experience to experience or from high to high. We embrace life when we receive it as a journey. When we enjoy it by taking it as it is. We can still meet with the supernatural God in the ordinary, average days of life!
We embrace life when we receive it as a journey. Click To TweetYou overcome the noise with the symphony of silence. The frantic pace of life with the motion of stillness. The constant rush with the beauty of being idle. Sometimes the fastest you go will be at the speed of slow. Learning the progress of rest. The truth is you advance by being still and knowing He is God more than by marching forward. To heal the sickness of hurry and the disease of more, we practice solitude and thanksgiving. The most can often be found in just okay. All of this is true, why? Because God is with you. Immanuel shows us that God is always with us. He is with us in the mundane, the okay, and the average everyday. His first entry into humanity wasn’t in a fancy palace or a world class hospital, but a messy manger. In the mess of life and in the face of danger is how Jesus took on flesh. That’s the beauty and tension we find in Jesus. He is the King of kings, but the servant of all. He is the Healer, yes, but a Wounded Healer. He is the Son of God, yet the Suffering Servant on the cross. He is in the mountain peaks of life, but also in the drudgery of existence. He is with the first time parents who are celebrating new life in the delivery room, but also with the family mourning the loss of a loved one couple floors up in the ICU. That’s who Jesus is. He loves us and loves to be with us in the here and now.
You advance by being still and knowing He is God more than by marching forward Click To TweetSo let go of all you expect life to be, and just be today. Learn to be present and enjoy the here and now. Not longing for the days of past or hoping for the days to come, but in today You will find that He has been with you all along. So what if today is ordinary. He is Immanuel. He is God. He is the super to our natural. He wants to be with you in the ordinary. And that’s the supernatural of being ordinary.