Out of the Ordinary

I’m usually at the office no later than 8:30AM, ready to take on the day. Today, on the other hand, I finally rolled in at 12:50PM. What happened, you may ask. No, I wasn’t doing some super-spiritual, divinely appointed work of the Lord. What happened was I couldn’t find something I was looking for! I knew exactly where it was supposed to be, but it was not there. So, what did I do? I left, took my daughter to school, and went right back home. And what did I do when I got back home? I did what I do way too often… I looked in the exact same place three different times as if the item I was looking for was going to somehow magically appear. When it didn’t, I began an extensive search. 

 I looked all around where it should have been. I looked in places there was no way it could have been. I looked in boxes that I still haven’t unpacked from when I moved years ago. I cleared out an entire room, rearranged, and vacuumed the floor; but still didn’t find what I was looking for. 

 At this point, I did what just about anyone else would have done… I began looking for someone to blame. And it didn’t take long to find the perfect suspect! They were the perpetrator, and I was the victim. They were in the wrong, and I was suffering the consequences. As if it wasn’t enough that I played the blame game, I then began to devise a plan of how I was going to blame them without blaming them, and how I was going to recoup my time and account for my pain and suffering. (Don’t act like you’ve never done anything like this before!)

 Four hours later, I finally decided to wave the white flag.  I accepted the fact that I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I repented for blaming someone else and for playing the victim. I rescinded my plan for reparations. And I decided to head to the office. Literally, as I was walking out the door, the Holy Spirit told me where the item was that I was looking for. Less than thirty seconds later, it was in my hands!

 I could take this opportunity to share Seven Steps to Being More Organized, or to discuss the Devil’s Deliberate Distractions, or preach on the Power of Repentance, or to reinforce the importance of not giving up, or to show how all things work together for good since I ended up with a tidy room at the end of all of this, or even to emphasize how we’re better able to hear the voice of God when we surrender. But I don’t think any of these are where I’m supposed to go with this.

 I think this is just to be a peek inside an ordinary day, in the ordinary life, of an ordinary girl, who deals with ordinary things. I think it’s to encourage you to know your life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be a partaker in God’s promises. I think it’s to level the playing field, so you no longer compare your behind the scenes to other people’s public posts. I think it’s a reminder to not disqualify yourself from doing what it is God has for you to do just because your life is not picture-perfect. 1 Corinthians 1:27 tells us that God deliberately chooses men and women that culture overlooks. So stop trying to paint a pretty picture and rest in knowing God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things!