Ordinary Matters

​Can God truly use the ordinary?
 
This question rattles around in my head and taps on my heart.
 
Ordinary.
Plain.
Predictable.
Everyday.
Conventional.
Common.
Simple.
Me.
 
I have a lived a pretty, simple, basic, quiet, normal life. I have not had to endure cancer. Grieve over a lost child. Been devastated by divorced. Lost everything in a fire or natural disaster. Totaled a car. Earned a million dollars. Written a book. Adopted a child from Africa, Asia or America.  I have not done anything the world would say was extraordinary.
 
My life is predictably plain.
 
The lack of “wow” in my life stands barren alongside the flourishing feeds of others on Instagram, Pintrest and Facebook.
 
As a result, ordinary starts to whisper in my ear.
 
How can God use me?
 
What message could I possible have?
 
Who could ever be touched by what I said?
 
Do I make a difference?
 
I pray.
 
I journal.
 
I keep it all inside. 
 
I wait for the day that God will change me.
 
I wait to become the confident woman I see others around me being.
 
I wait to be more of the Jesus girl than I am.
 
But you see, I am tired of waiting. I’m tired of waiting to make life different. I’m tired of waiting for me to be different. I’m tired of struggling with my insecurities. I’m tired of feeling that ordinary is not good enough. I am tired of waiting for my life to explode into extraordinary.
 
I want to "feel" once and for all deep down that I am more than enough. That what I am doing is right. That I am making a difference. That ordinary matters. I want to stop discounting my life just because it’s not extraordinary. I want to be reassured that everyday ordinary plates are just as valuable and important as expensive ornate porcelain ones. I may not have anything fancy to give, but I want my meager morsels of service to mean something. I want to find God’s extraordinary in my ordinary.
 
Because, deep down inside of me I want most of all to see God. To feel His presence. To see His miracles in the common things of my life.
 
I want to know what He has in store for me.
 
I want to be connected to Him.
 
Understood by Him.
 
 Loved by Him.
 
I want to feel the praise of my Savior. I want to hear his voice say, "Good job." "Way to go." “I’m proud of you.”
 
I want to make a difference. I want to encourage others. I want to help others walk closer to Jesus, to lean into the arms of our Savior and feel His strong embrace. I want my ordinary to matter to God.
 
God tapped me on my shoulder today and gently whispered in my ear, “Yes, you matter. Yes, I see your ordinary. Yes, I can use whatever you give me.” Romans 10:11 states, “everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” Romans 10:11. These words began to tug at the weeds of fear and insecurity that have taken root in my heart. It was as if God was tilling my heart reminding me that nothing we do for Him is ever in vain.
 
Friends nothing we do in faith for God is for naught. We do not have any reason to question ourselves or to apologize for who we are in Jesus. Our faith gives us a boldness that goes beyond our ordinary, normal, everyday lives.
 
Sweet friends and sisters know that it is okay to be imperfect. You are loved and accepted just the way you are, ordinary or not, because God specializing in doing the extraordinary with the ordinary. 

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