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Leadership Development

The Sacredness of the Ordinary

A jar of Silvadene cream, a conductor's baton, a piece of chalk, and a laptop—what do these objects have in common? They are significant because they represent the pieces, scraps, and tools of ministry God has used in different seasons of my life. We have heard the stories of the miracles that accompanied five smooth pebbles and a handmade slingshot, a few crusty rolls and dried fish, and the scrapings of flour in the bottom of a jar. Ordinary bits and pieces of life that were yielded to God, like the story of the widow's oil in 2 Kings 4:1-7.

Elisha asked the distressed woman, "What have we to work with?" The widow had one small container of oil—nothing else of value. Her sons were about to be sold into slavery as a settlement for her late husband's debts.

"Gather up all of your empty vessels, whatever old pots and pitchers you can find or borrow," the prophet commanded, "and begin to fill them with oil."

The widow did as she was instructed and was amazed at the overflowing supply of oil—enough to fill every jar and to pay all her bills.

Whatever our circumstances or seasons, God stands ready to transform all that we offer to Him into all that we need.

Often one of the greatest frustrations that Christian women face is walking through the "dailiness" of life and wondering how the pieces of who they are fit into the big picture of God's plan. We are tempted to see ourselves as a basket of laundry, a PTA meeting, a carpool, a 9-to-5 work assignment, a sack of groceries, a group Bible study—all disjointed fragments with no eternal significance.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh said in her timeless classic, Gift from the Sea, that most of us don't really mind pouring out our lives for a reason. What we do resent is the sense that it is being dribbled away in small, worthless drops with no ultimate purpose. As godly women, we must believe that by faith every piece of life, every struggle, every new venture is being crafted together into God's perfect master plan. He has a place, a plan, and a purpose for every one He has created.

Elizabeth Elliot, author and Bible teacher, relates a story about three women washing clothes. A passerby asked each what she was doing.

"Washing clothes," was the first reply.

"A bit of household drudgery," was the second.

"I'm mothering three young children who will someday fill important and useful spheres in life, and wash day is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever," was the third.

God ordains ordinary work, which consumes most of our time, just as much as He ordains the extraordinary. Colossians 3:23 tells us, "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men" (New King James Version). God will bless all our work if it is done unto Him, whether it is jostling two pre-schoolers, presiding as a company's CEO, or taking care of a bed-stricken parent. This is ministry and it has eternal significance!

God often shows up in the "significance of the commonplace," in the everyday activities of life. Reggie McNeal in his book, A Work of Heart, calls this "the sacredness of the ordinary." In a media crazed world, God still speaks through a bed of straw, a cruise of oil, and a bottle of fragrant perfume.

In her book, It Takes so Little to be Above Average, Florence Littauer tells about the 96-year-old woman who was a faithful attendant at her women's Bible studies. She was always prepared and knew all the answers. One day a tactless member asked her, "Why do you work so hard on these lessons when you're so old?"

The senior saint said confidently, "I'm cramming for my finals!"

Think about this saying: "Real character is who you are when no one is looking." This is true of the routine of life, the moments when no one is looking. We all know great people who came from small beginnings or have done extraordinary things in ordinary ways.

God never wastes anything, not even painful experiences. As a young girl I had a desire to be a surgeon. How God would use this desire was a mystery to me for many years. The desire subsided and I pursued full-time music ministry. It wasn't until our first child was born with an incurable skin disease requiring constant care and bandaging that I discovered why I had such a desire to help the suffering. God even used this discarded dream in a powerful way.

For twenty-one years I used this gift to help heal my son. Then the Lord took Bryon home. A couple of years ago, I attended a Tuesday night prayer meeting at Brooklyn Tabernacle. A woman I had never met began to prophesy over me. She took my hands and said, "The same hands that God used to heal and care for your son, He will use to heal the hurts in the lives of women around the world!"

The tools—Silvadene, the special cream to heal my son; a music baton to direct school and church choirs; a piece of chalk to demonstrate to a kindergarten class how to draw their letters; and a laptop to author books, sermons, and articles for a women's magazine—all tools God has used in different seasons of my life.

What ordinary and simple tools will you offer God, which will become sacred or even miraculous when yielded to Him?

LILLIAN SPARKS