The ordinary

Someone once said, "the difficult thing of life is that it is so daily."

Sometimes we fear the ordinary.  The "humdrum". 

Many times we even detest and despise the ordinary.

I see folks who want the "public ministry", receiving recognition and applause.

I get that.

It is not wrong to want to be used mightily by God (for all the right reasons).

Yet, the older I become, the more I realize that the greatest ministry you and I can have is in the ordinary situations of life.

I recently had lunch with a couple of other pastors - one pastor mentioned that at the end of the day what counts is if he had done what Jesus had told him to and lived for God.

He was spot on in saying that he couldn't possibly do everything that could be done in ministry (even Jesus didn't do that on a daily basis) but only what he could - with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Most of the time, the greatest ministry you  have will be hidden and away from the applause of this world.

In the dailyness of life.

Giving a kind word.

Letting someone go in front of you at the grocery store line.

Encouraging someone with a scripture.

Calling someone in need.

Speaking creatively in a difficult situation.

Jesus modeled this for us.

The largest part of the life of Jesus was hidden.

He lived with his parents in Nazareth, "under their authority." (Luke 2:51.

While living with his parents, he increased (Luke 2:52) in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and with people."

The life of Jesus consisted of spectacular miracles and signs of wonders.  His passion, his death and resurrection.

But we should never distance ourselves from the fact that Jesus lived a simple, hidden life in a small town, far away form all the great people, great cities, and great events.

That is important for our own spiritual journey's as well.  If we want to follow Jesus by words and deeds in the service of his kingdom, we must first of all strive to follow Jesus in his simple, unspectacular, and very ordinary hidden life.

You might not do something today that will make, "Christian headlines."  But it is in doing the godly, "small" thing that opens up the door the a powerful ministry - and the domino effect of goodness spreading throughout the world.

Just a thought for a Thursday.