I can’t fully grasp it, but I know Jesus is doing something with my reading of Steven Furtick’s Sun Stand Still.
When looking at ordinary versus the extraordinary…
How much time do we lose in chasing after the extraordinary?
How many opportunities are missed in our pursuit?
Our pursuit because we are left feeling unsatisfied, discontent with where we are, or dare I say puffed up because we deserve more. ‘I’m bigger than that job Jesus.’
As Steven Furtick mentions in the book, God catches us in our ordinary. That is where He is found. He challenges his readers to “look around your desert… Will you remove your shoes, draw close, and receive your assignment? Will you give the Lord permission to ignite your ordinary?” (p. 47).
Coming back to the States after being a missionary in Ethiopia was a hard transition. I had to learn (and I am still learning) how to love with my new eyes. I had to learn how to keep my fire, live in the audacious, to let Him comfort places that were broken, hurt and angry, from where I felt like the enemy had robbed me, places where I felt like he was robbing them through our inaction.
I had come back to what I had defined as ordinary.
Ordinary: the boring, somewhat suffocating, heart just broken ‘why am I back here Lord Jesus’ American life and new job in retail. Suddenly, this – whatever this is – was not what I came back for. People in my life had changed in the time I was gone. I had changed. Lots of things changed…
Did I mention materialism? Okay. Ha! I won’t.
The burning bush…
What would it look like for me to take off my shoes?
What if – while I believe these dreams, these visions, are things Jesus has for me – I am on assignment here, right now, where He has me for the moment, in the States?
What if I am to work every day in retail as if working for the Lord and without complaint?
What if another ministry dollar never came in? What then? Would something break forever within me? Would I want to wake up again?
Break my spirit and call me Home.
It’s in these what if scenarios, in these circumstances, that we look more, hunger more, and thirst more for God.
If we look around our desert, we will find our own burning bush.
Is God calling you?
Let’s not waste a calling.
We can choose to look. The bible says if we look for Him with our whole heart we will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29).
We can choose to be curious like Moses was (Exodus 3).
We can choose to step closer.
We can choose to take off our shoes – perhaps in the grass, rather than in the dust and dirt…
And we can choose to receive our assignment, all the while knowing God is the God of all things ordinary, or extraordinary.
He can accept those surrendered definitions and with your open hands, place something new.
Ask Him for the ability to receive it. Ask Him for eyes to see the beautiful. Ask Him for boldness. Ask Him to remind you of His love.
He is faithful, and yes, He will do it.
