The other day, I saw this quick video clip online.
I shared it on Facebook with this thought:
I feel like so many hear this quick little message and write it off as "cliche." But if only we would stop and think about the truth packed into it...
Jesus calls us. He doesn't just accept us. He doesn't just allow us to come to Him 'should we find Him.' He CALLS us to Himself.
And He calls us - in all of our imperfection, knowing all that we lack - for HIS purposes. Think about that. In what way am I, even on my greatest day, deserving of that calling? I'm not.
Yet, He CALLS us to Himself. He calls us ordinary people to do these extraordinary things for His kingdom.
I kept thinking about it, and that last sentence was ringing in my head; specifically the "... to DO these extraordinary things..." part.
I finally understand why.
The truth is, we don't DO anything extraordinary. We kind of can't. We are just ordinary people, and how would anything extraordinary come from that? Think about it, what are things that we might say are extraordinary, spiritually?
Leading a revival
Preaching
Leading worship
Leading people to salvation
Fasting
We hear, see or are people that do these things, and so many of us think (maybe in different words) that it's extraordinary. We read about:
Peter's sermons in Acts that brought thousands to faith
Paul's work with all the churches in the New Testament, preceded by his testimony
Daniel's fast and victory in the book of Daniel
Joshua's leadership and conquest in the book of Joshua
David's dependence on the Lord, his songwriting, his heart through the Psalms
We've experienced or heard about:
Revivals like Billy Graham's crusade
Powerful worship "concerts"
Prayer movements
And we stand in amazement over them. We acknowledge that they are extraordinary, but fail to assign the "extraordinary" to the right place. Perhaps we wish that we could do something this extraordinary; that God would light up the neon sign in our life, calling us to do something this great and important.
We overlook the truth.
The things is, there is nothing extraordinary about what these people have done. Take the greatest revival in history and strip it down to the bare bones. You won't find someone extraordinary, and you won't find them doing anything extraordinary.
What you will find, is someone completely ordinary being used by the Holy Spirit for an extraordinary purpose.
There is nothing extraordinary about teaching the Bible. It is just reading the Word, and sharing thoughts. Sounds pretty ordinary to me.
There is nothing extraordinary about a worship band. It is just playing instruments and/or singing words they've come to know well. Sounds pretty ordinary to me.
There is nothing extraordinary about being a leader. It is just managing people and pieces, and making decisions when necessary. Sounds pretty ordinary to me.
There is nothing extraordinary about fasting. It is just abstaining from eating, or some activity, for a period of time. Sounds pretty ordinary to me.
But when you add the Holy Spirit to the equation... when that happens, everything changes. The Holy Spirit is what brings the "extraordinary."
Take Joshua 7 for example.
"So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes..." (7:16)
That's a pretty ordinary thing, right? Joshua woke up early (maybe for some of us, waking up early IS extraordinary ;) ). But if you read the story, you find that this ordinary thing Joshua does is an answer to the call of God, and it is used for an extraordinary purpose among God's chosen people.
That person preaching/teaching the Bible is doing something ordinary, but something extraordinary is coming out of it.
That person leading worship is doing something ordinary, but something extraordinary is coming out of it.
That person leading people, ministries, churches is doing something ordinary, but something extraordinary is coming out of it.
And that something extraordinary is a product of nothing but the Holy Spirit choosing to use ordinary people as vessels. You don't have to be in any special position, occupation or location to be used. You just have to answer the call -
The call from Jesus for you to come to Him.
Answering that call to follow Jesus puts your ordinary self in the position to be part of the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit.
Let's not miss how extraordinary that is.
~ Alyssa