The blessing of the ordinary

 

A couple day ago this graphic showed up in my Instagram feed.  I shared in on my stories as I thought it was cute and a good reminder to be careful of comparison. As God so often does, He started to bring several thoughts on the same topic together.  It has been an encouragement to me to think on these things a bit more so I thought I'd share a quick note and hope it's an encouragement to you as well.

Awhile ago I heard a podcast (can't remember which one it was now) on the miracle of Jesus turning the water into wine; however, this particular episode took a different approach to this passage.  We find the story of water to wine, in John chapter 2.  Here's the part that was a fresh thought for me.  In verse 5 Mary tells the servants to "Do whatever he tells you."  In verse 7 Jesus tells the servants to "Fill the jars with water." that's it..just the ordinary act of pouring water into jars.  Notice now how they fill the jars "And they filled them up to the brim." These servants didn't do the job halfway they filled the jars as much as they could.  Yet still, it was just filling jars.  After the water (now turned into wine) was served John says no one knew "where it came from (though the servants who had drown the water knew)".  These servants who did the simple act of filling jars with water where the first people to know the first miracle Jesus did in His public ministry!  And all from just filling jars, doing their ordinary, daily work.  

As I was reading John 4 I noticed that we see this same theme again. An ordinary woman doing her ordinary, daily task; yet again, Jesus reveals Himself to her first.  In John 4:4 John says about Jesus "And he had to pass through Samaria"; here's the thing. Jews did not get along with Samaritans; in fact they would routinely lengthen their journey in order to go around the region of Samaria but here we see that Jesus had a purpose and "had to" pass through Samaria.  Here he meets a woman at a well; she is going about here normal everyday task of drawing water from a well when Jesus begins speaking to her...she a Samaritan!  She even questions this in verse 9 when she asks "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans).   Yet, not only does He ask for a drink He reveals to her that He is the Christ!  The Messiah! and she is then the first person to tell those in the region of Samaria about Him! Because of her testimony many come to listen to Jesus and believe in Him.  

In both of these cases Jesus meets people in the everyday, doing ordinary things, faithfully doing what needs to be done. In one case he asks them to do a task and because of their obedience they get to be a part of a miracle, in the other He goes out of His way to step into a woman's ordinary day to give her a new kind of water...living water and because of her belief she gets to lead many to Jesus' feet!  

So, on days when it feels like everyday tasks are wearing on you.  When the ordinary may not seem like enough; know that God sees you, He sees your faithfulness to the little things and you never know what He might do with those ordinary things.  So keep being faithful and obedient...and "fill to the brim" whatever God asks you to do today.