It’s what we’re called to, isn’t it? Doing the ordinary in an extraordinary way?
Doing the common task with unexpected excellence. “Working heartily as unto God and not unto men.” Colossians 3:23
But, each day, we’re bombarded by routine. We act by rote, not thinking, not considering our motive or why we do what we do. Most days, if we’re honest, we’re annoyed by the daily tasks that pile up. The tasks are expected of us but often unappreciated.
Do we wash the dishes/change the diapers/nurse the baby/shop/cook/clean/-as an annoyance to be tolerated on our way to the bigger thing, the thing we were REALLY created for? Or is it enough…
Is it possible to live our day where we are, savoring each moment, satisfied with the season we’re in?
Or are we condemned to always seek, question, complain, fret, & compare our lives with some dreamed-up ideal we think real life is truly about?
This can’t be as good as it gets, can it? Oh, I feel you. Some days the grass looks so much greener over there, and the common tasks nearly overwhelm me with their routine and gray sameness.
But I’m crying out and begging Him to teach me how to:
Change a diaper the way He took a towel…
Serve a meal the way He broke bread…
Love the outcast like He touched a leper…
Honor others the way He spoke to the woman at the well…
Love the unrighteous as He wrote on the ground…
He showed no prejudice and no partiality. Kings and commoners all were the same to Him. His life and His offer to each was always love.
Abnormal Love.
Extraordinary love
Unconventional love.
Unexpected love.
Uncommon love.
Everything He did, He transfigured. Every word, encounter, and miracle was imbued with the uncommon. Saturated by the unexpected.
He made the impossible possible and impregnated every moment with grace. And He says two simple words.
“Follow me.”
Follow me as I live.
Serve.
Sacrifice.
Give.
Love.
Follow me, and you will live an uncommon, abnormal, and gloriously unexpected life!
Here’s my prayer:
Lord, help me to honor you through my actions every day. To make holy the common task and find the divine in each moment.
I’d love to hear yours.
The Injustice of Grace