Ordinarily Extraordinary

There are a vast number of people who have greatly changed all of our lives. There are inventors, speakers, writers, doctors, teachers, scientists, and more who have changed our world, whether that is technologically, physically, or inspirationally.

For example, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell contributed highly to our modern technology. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. There are also hundreds and hundreds of other inventions (big and small) that have changed our lives; cars, microwaves, penicillin, the printing press, computers, airplanes, television, toothbrushes, locks, paper clips, glasses, etc.

Martin Luther King Jr. changed the lives of many with his famous, I have a dream speech. Frederick Douglass wrote three autobiographies that paved the way in the abolitionist movement of the 19^th century. There are countless people who have changed and inspired our world through their speech and/or writing; William Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Plato, Rene Descartes, Thomas Paine, George Orwell, Leo Tolstoy, etc.

There are painters like Picasso, leaders like Abraham Lincoln, and artists like John Lennon or The Beatles who have helped to shape our world. These people are famous, their names are recognized by most, and they have changed some aspect of our society and our world.

Doesn't everybody wish to somehow change the world like they did?

Changing the world is such a big dream; it’s a huge dream! It’s intimidating and oftentimes seems out of our reach. I love the idea of inspiring or changing the world in some way, but I also love to be realistic, so I decide to dream a little smaller. My mind immediately jumps to justifications for why I am incapable of such a dream. Changing the world isn’t for everybody, right? It’s for those who have remarkable ideas, unheard of IQs, or unmatched talents. People who change the world are extraordinary people, and I would say that I’m fairly ordinary, so changing the world just isn’t for me. I would love to do something so great, but wanting to do something and having the ability to do it are entirely different. I’m just not the, “great enough to change the world,” type, and I accept that.

However, I reach an issue with this mentality regularly. I don’t think that God is too fond my attitude and outlook on my abilities. Why is this an issue? Because God calls us to do crazy, change-the-world things!

God calls us to love our enemies (Matt 5:44, Romans 12:20, Luke 6:27-28, 1 John 2:9). He calls us to serve and sacrifice ourselves for others (Matt 25:35-46, 1 Peter 4:9-10, Galatians 5:13-14).

God calls us to be enemies of the world; to be in the world but not of the world (1 John 2:15-16, James 4:4, John 17:14). He calls us to preach the gospel to all (Mark 16:15, Matt 28:19, Mark 13:10) and to be a light unto the world (Matt 5:14-16, John 12:35-36).

I don’t think that any of those things could be regarded as “small” duties. God calls us to do some pretty monumental things.  

Now, I know what God wants and expects from me. I know it from His word and I know it from what He has impressed upon my heart. He’s got plans for me and He’s got work for me to do. I know what He wants, but I doubt that I can do it.

Sometimes I feel like I have to remind Him that it’s me. “God, you do know that you’re talking to me, right? You know, Mary Bocks?

Oh, you do know that?

Well then, you must’ve forgotten all about who I am. This is the Mary Bocks who has disappointed you time and time again; the one who continually falls short of your expectations. This is the one who-

You say you know exactly who I am?

Well if you know exactly who I am, you should know I am surely not good enough for this. I don’t understand why you would want to trust me with such a calling. God, with all due respect, I think you’re crazy! I want to serve you, I do, but there is no way I can do something that big! Can you trust me with something a little smaller?”

This conversation between God and I legitimately happens. I imagine He is constantly shaking His head at me.”Mary, you tell Me that you want to wholeheartedly serve Me, and yet when I ask something of you, you say it is too much, too big, too great. Do you not see the contradiction? You are not only underestimating yourself, but you are underestimating My ability to know you; My ability to know what you can do with my strength. I can trust you to do this, because I know you trust me.” Usually after awhile I understand the absurdity of arguing with God about what He is calling me to do, but that doesn't mean I think I can do it. There are many times I just can't understand why He is asking me to do it, and I can’t accept it.

“God, I’m just ordinary. I am nothing spectacular and I don’t have the potential to change the world. I just don’t understand why you think I am capable of doing such extraordinary things when I am just an ordinary person who makes ordinary mistakes.”

God reminds me that He doesn’t need extraordinary; He needs obedience and trust. He told me that, if I read my bible, I would quickly be reminded of all the times that he used ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

            God used fishermen, a tax collector, and religious radicals as His disciples.

            He used an ordinary shepherd boy named David to be the king of Israel,

            a young virgin to be the mother of Christ,

            an ordinary man (who was no prophet) named Amos to prophesy to Israel,

            a weak man named Gideon to defeat the Midianites

            a prostitute named Rahab and an adulteress named Bathsheba.

God uses ordinary people who trust in His strength to do extraordinary things; His disciples were fishermen! Alone, they were not wealthy, perfect, or strong; they were ordinary. But with God’s strength, they were extraordinary. They influenced lives and they changed the world. God still wants to use ordinary people to do amazing things today.

God doesn’t need us to be flawless. (Thomas Edison failed over 2000 times before he successfully invented the light bulb .. random fact!). If we let Him, God can use us to change the world.

“We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, or fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.” – Marianne Williamson

We are all ordinary people with the potential to be something and do something so much greater. Who was Picasso, but a normal man intrigued by art, before his work was famous? Who was William Shakespeare, but one of the many children at his charter school, before he became a famous playwright? Who were any of the aformentioned inventors, writers, or speakers before they changed the world? They were ordinary people. As quoted, maybe the question isn’t, “Who am I to change the world?” but rather, who are you NOT to change the world? Who are you NOT to be extraordinary?

What would have happened if Abraham had said he was too ordinary to "make a great nation?" What if Noah had thought himself not great enough to build an ark? What if David had not believed himself strong enough to defeat Goliath?

God will call you to do crazy things. He will call you to do incredible things. Let God use you to be extraordinary, because with Him, you can be. After all, who are you not to be?