DREAMING OF SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY
My husband and I used to watch the t.v. show Fixer Upper. We watched as Chip and Joanna Gaines worked with different people to build the houses of their dreams. It was amazing to see how they could transform an ordinary or run-down house into something dreamy and extraordinary. It appeared they were able to make dreams come true for so many couples and families in Waco, TX.
I also started to dream. I asked myself, “Could I have my dream house? Could we fix up something ordinary and turn it into something dreamy and extraordinary that we could enjoy for the rest of our lives? Should we pursue something different than what we are living in?”
EXTRAORDINARY LOOKED ORDINARY
A few years later, our family did start to pursue something different than what we were living in. We left everything we knew in Wisconsin and moved to Texas. In the process of finding a new place to live, we visited Waco.
Waco seemed like a nice place to live, with fine neighborhoods and fun sights to see. But something surprised me about being there. It seemed so….. ordinary. Like so many other cities I had visited, it had congested traffic, road construction, unmowed yards, people looking for a better life, and regular city buildings. I was led to believe this place was special, something extraordinary. But it all seemed… ordinary.
After we finally found a new place to live (a couple hours away from Waco), we also found a new church to attend. Some of its leaders are well-known throughout the country, and throughout the world. They speak or sing on stage. Thousands of people watch or listen to them. They inspire and motivate so many. They help so many people connect with God. They must be something special, something amazing, something extraordinary!
But I’ve gotten to meet some of these well-known people, or personally know people who know them. And, just like in Waco, I was faced with the realization that these people too were just…. ordinary! They were certainly wonderful people, full of talent and love for God and other people. But they did not have supernatural powers. Life was not perfect for them. They had families. They had struggles. They had doubts, just like all the “ordinary” folks.
WAS JESUS ORDINARY OR EXTRAORDINARY?
Of course, we know Jesus was set-apart, holy, a performer of miracles, and God’s representation on Earth. There is definitely something more than amazing about that.
BUT, the Scriptures also say:
“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” Isaiah 53:2b-3
He was amazing, miraculous, extraordinary. Yet, he appeared to be by so many just ordinary!
He was not extra-handsome or attractive-looking. He did not live in a fancy mansion or have an extravagant form of transportation. He suffered and felt pain and hunger. People had to know and believe Him to understand how extraordinary He actually was.
WHICH AM I MEANT TO BE?
After recognizing these things about people and places that seemed extraordinary on the outside, I asked myself, “Am I meant to be ordinary, instead of striving for something more, something extraordinary?” Everything and everyone around me seemed ordinary, maybe that’s all I was meant to be too.
Then, God reminded me of a verse someone had spoken over me a few years ago: “…What God has cleansed you must not call common.” Acts 10:15 (Common is also another word for ordinary.)
So, if God has cleansed me, set me apart, and made me into something special, then I am not ordinary. Being extraordinary is not something to strive for or dream about, it is something God has already made me to be. Like Jesus, I may seem ordinary on the outside, but God is doing something extraordinary in and through me.
As for the other things in life, I realized I do not need to covet or idolize those things that appear to be extraordinary. Instead, I can pay attention to those “ordinary” things and people around me and notice just how extraordinary they are.
Lindsey, I relate to your post so much. Thank you for putting it into words and sharing with us.
Beautiful post. Hard to think about Jesus being dispised and ordinary. But without God opening our eyes and our hearts, we wouldn’t be able to see the extraordinary either. Thank you, God, for choosing us and enabling us to see. Praise your name!