Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things!

by Lucy Britten

'God blesses those who realise their need for Him, for the Kingdom of heaven is given to them...God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them' (Matthew 5:3-5)

These verses are incredible, and all through the Bible it talks of the help and annointing of God enabling ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and the theme that stays the same through every person, is their desire to see God glorified, and their faithful obedience. Look at Moses, he went from being the son of Pharaoh, to a lowly Shepherd, to a leader who led thousands of his people to safety, performing amazing miracles in God's name along the way. I bet if you told him he's an extraordinary person, he'd tell you it's only because we have an extraordinary God!!

So if the first step to enjoying an exciting life with God is obedience, what is the next step? There's an amazing daily devotional 'Experiencing God Day-by-Day' by Henry T. and Richard Blackaby, and near the start of the year they talk about our character playing a big part in the life we lead. God wants to use each and every person on this earth and take them places they never even dreamed of, but a lot of the time our character prevents us from reaching those highs. In the devotional it talks of how God will not give you a task to do if your character is not strong enough to handle it, and, as He does not see time as a limitation, He will wait until we are ready.

Well, this really struck a chord with me. I often hunger for God in a way you would if you haven't eaten for days, so I couldn't bear to miss out on anything He has planned for me. But, I know that there have been so many times I've been through something gross and not learned a single lesson from it, or been too stubborn to change my character. Everytime I do this, I'm limiting the amount of tasks God can trust me with. That is such a depressing thought, there may have been so many amazing things that just passed me by because I wasn't ready.

When I talk of amazing tasks and places, I'm not saying that everyone needs to be in big ministries, up on a stage, or leading many people, no, God needs people to be great where they are. The following few verses show exactly how important each and every person and their responsibility are:

'Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of His one body and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So, if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.' (Romans 12:4-8)

Those verses sum up exactly how important each person is. Can you imagine our bodies working properly without certain parts, everyone is important, God just asks us to be obedient, and do the job well.

With this in mind, are you ready to be obedient? Do you want to be the next Moses, or Paul, or Abraham, become extraordinary and go out and change lives? Or do you want to fit into the worlds ideals and live just for yourself. I know which is the braver and more exciting option - are you up for being brave today?!