Finding the Extraordinary Right Where We Are

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

My pastor has recently been preaching a series on learning to hear God’s voice. A couple of weeks ago, he talked bout Moses and the burning bush. This is a very familiar story to most Christians. Personally, I’ve always wished that God would talk to me in a burning bush or something like it. I would really appreciate a megaphone moment, giving me perfect clarity on the next steps I should take in whatever season I find myself in.

But, this time the pastor asked the question why God would choose an ordinary bush at the base of a mountain. Why wouldn’t He appear in a lush oasis, full of greenery and life? He could certainly show off His majesty that way. Why would He choose the ordinary?

I pondered that concept long after the sermon. Why wouldn’t God use all of His wonderful creativity when communicating with us?

But, when I thought about the Bible, He used ordinary people repeatedly. He used a prostitute named Rahab to help deliver the city of Jericho. He used a young shepherd named David, to become Israel’s most renowned king. He used a common fisherman named Peter, who had a tendency to shoot off his mouth and struggled to believe, to become the rock that the Church was built on. And then there’s the unplanned baby, born to a teenager, who had to use a manger for a crib, because there was no room for Him.

He would grow up to be the savior of all mankind.

When I think about it, God seems to go out of His way to intentionally choose the ordinary to further His plans. Maybe that’s because that choice is so very different than what we would choose. Humanity seems to naturally choose big, beautiful, bright and splashy. We like larger than life people and events.

But, God’s way is different.

So, why did He choose the burning bush, when all of Creation was at His disposal?

Perhaps it was because He meets us wherever we are. He meets us in the hospital room, in the midst of an upheaval, in the middle of the divorce or when we are surrounded by bad decisions. When our situation seems impossible, He meets us there.

He doesn’t usually zap us out to where we would rather be or appear to us in bright lights. Instead, He gently takes us by the hand and walks with us through the darkness. He sends friends and family and sometimes strangers, to cheer us on and when we get to the other side of the crises and look back, we know He was there, communicating with us all along.

We can often miss the extraordinary because it’s hiding in the ordinary. A burning bush reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂