The Everyday

Life is extraordinarily ordinary. Days quickly melt into one another. Work trudges on. Bills need to be paid. Dishes need to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done, kids need to be dressed, groceries need to be purchased. Every. Single. Day. Pretty mundane, right? Did you think life would look this way? 

We often hope for a different version of our lives, or even look into another’s world and long for something more adventurous, more exciting, more together. These longings are typically rooted in a lie that something different, something else, ANYTHING else is where the good life is. It doesn’t end. It can quickly breed an unholy discontent, frustration, and worst of all, a failure to see the goodness of God with where you’re at right now. The struggle is real. 

Where is the hope? Where and when do we see change? As followers of Jesus we are freed from that cycle to see the grace of God in the everyday. Not only that, we are given the perspective and power to redeem the situations and circumstances that we presently find ourselves in. 

In Tish Harrison Warren writes, ““Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes.” I was, and remain, a Christian who longs for revolution, for things to be made new and whole in beautiful and big ways. But what I am slowly seeing is that you can’t get to the revolution without learning to do the dishes. The kind of spiritual life and disciplines needed to sustain the Christian life are quiet, repetitive, and ordinary. I often want to skip the boring, daily stuff to get to the thrill of an edgy faith. But it’s in the dailiness of the Christian faith—the making the bed, the doing the dishes, the praying for our enemies, the reading the Bible, the quiet, the small—that God’s transformation takes root and grows.” 

The Apostle Paul who encouraged us to “Make best use of the time” - It’s not accidental that he writes those words from a Roman prison cell. He was maligned, mistreated, and falsely accused yet he still went forward redeeming and making best use of the opportunities that God had given regardless. Not only did he trudge through, but he used every opportunity to demonstrate the grace that had been extended to him in Jesus through both words and deeds. Everyday is an opportunity to redeem the ordinary with the extraordinary grace of God. 

So where has God placed you? Where are you frustrated? Where is it difficult to find satisfaction and fulfillment? Where are you everyday? 

God has placed you there to show forth and reflect HIS grace and HIS goodness. In Christ HE has freed you from the endless cycle of discontent, impatience, and restlessness to find your rest in him. To see and show HIM in the mundane is to redeem the everyday. 

The Unexpected

Life is full of the unexpected. Your entire life can turn upside down with nothing more than a phone call, text message or conversation. It’s in times like these that questions, fears, anxiety, doubt, and depression flood our hearts and minds as though a dam has erupted and the waters are upon us. 

What do you do then? When there are more questions than answers? More fear than faith? More doubt than delight? Jesus shows us the way. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

He invites us to himself. Not as isolated individuals but a community of the burdened and broken. In coming to Jesus we see we really aren’t alone. 

Yet here is what often happens: We encounter something that frustrates, flusters, or flattens us, and the internal battle begins. The dialogue rolls around in our brains and tension mounts. Teeth are clenched. Breath is held. Headaches ensue. Distractions are sought to ease the mind, but often to no avail. The burden weighs us down. 

Our vision is often clouded in these times and here’s what we fail to see; He is already aware of it all. He knows the four letter words and unholy introspection that’s going on. Even then, He says “Come.” He pulls up the chair and asks you to “Cast all your anxieties on him” and this isn’t because God is a mindless soundboard with no responsiveness, but “because he cares for you”. He’s a good Father and faithful friend. 

Not only that, He has placed others around us to share the burden. To listen. To learn. To pray. His nearness shows up through our neighbors. 

There is no prerequisite to have it together, polish our prayers, and fake it till we fake it. He simply says “Cast it, throw it, launch every last bit of what you are feeling and thinking and wondering my way.” He gives permission to be messy and promises grace. Remember, He already knows. 

God demonstrates this most clearly in coming to earth. In Christ, He shows us that He cares enough to come personally and tangibly into our lives. He relates, He knows, He feels our hurts and meets us there. 

When the unexpected strikes, we press toward Jesus together in the mess. We can find rest even when we like resolution. We can trust even though the trials persist. He is active, and He cares. He is there in the middle of it all, working for His glory and our good.