Exceptionally Ordinary

by Paul V. Harrison

Exceptional

Acts 19:11: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.”

On his third missionary journey, the Apostle Paul labored in Ephesus in Asia Minor. Packed with more than a quarter million people, the city reeked of idolatry. The Temple of Diana, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, attracted thousands who gazed at its 127 massive columns and spent great amounts of money on souvenirs and trinkets (see Acts 19), making the temple a great boon to the local economy.

In this setting, God chose to supplement Paul’s preaching with amazing miracles of healing and exorcism. These surely must have been exciting days as God, through Paul, plowed up the soil of unbelief and scattered the seeds of the gospel in this great city.

Ordinary

We, however, are not the Apostle Paul, and most of us aren’t called to work miracles in idolatrous capitals of the world. For most, life does not consist of the exciting and dazzling, much less the miraculous. Ordinary is the rule, extraordinary the exception. The bulk of life is mundane, plain vanilla.

Recognizing this leads to a danger: day-after-day seemingly unimportant tasks often deceive us into labeling them unimportant. The truth is, everything we do—if it’s done for God—is filled with significance. Heaven hallows the otherwise insignificant. Martin Luther wrote: “If God wants to do something extraordinary through you, he will call you and will point out opportunities. Avail yourself of them. If this does not happen, let everyone nevertheless rejoice that he is in a divine calling when he assumes and performs these ordinary duties of this life.”

Exceptionally Ordinary

Scripture repeatedly reveals God employing the ordinary to achieve his ends. Noah cut, sawed, and hammered many a day, and God used his carpentry to save the world. David herded sheep in preparation to write of the Great Shepherd. Even when there’s no apparent greatness in God’s goals for our work, it still sparkles with glory to Him.

Dorcas doesn’t rate on most Christian “who’s who” lists, but God recorded that she was always doing good and helping the poor (Acts 9:36). My guess is that most heavenly rewards will be given for ordinary earthly obedience, the day-to-day stuff we tend to think of little significance.

Therefore, don’t denigrate your routine duties but think of them as exceptionally ordinary. Washing dishes, changing diapers, paying bills, going to work, cutting the grass—these plain notes make the music of a life well lived for God.

About the Writer: Paul V. Harrison pastors Cross Timbers FWB Church near Nashville, TN. He serves on the Commission for Theological Integrity.