I recently read Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. GREAT book! In it she examines the lives of 5 women in history. One of them is Esther Ahn Kim, a Korean woman, who refused to bow to the Japanese idols that were imposed on the Koreans when Japan ruled the Korean government. As she faced imminent imprisonment, she prepared herself to die a martyr's death. She said that what she faced for the sake of Christ was far greater than living "an ordinary and uneventful life".
That phrase jumped out at me and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since - "ordinary and uneventful". I don't believe Christians are called to be ordinary. Scripture is clear that we are set apart - called to be holy, to love as Christ has loved us, to walk in humility, to joyfully persevere through hardship, to be grateful rather than a complainer, to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings..... The list could go on. None of this is ordinary. Neither does Scripture depict our lives as uneventful. Jesus came that we might have abundant life, eternally AND presently.
Yet how many of us yield to the ordinary and uneventful? It's so easy to become self-absorbed; materialistic; to settle for the status quo; to think "I can't possibly make a difference."..... I find that my standard often becomes people around me. And even though I am blessed to be in some pretty great company at times, no one is a match for Christ. He is our standard. And if we're not being imitators of Him, as He calls us to be, then we're just living ordinary, uneventful lives. If we're not being obedient to the things He is calling us to, we're submitting to the ordinary and uneventful.
As I read the above mentioned book, I was confronted by women who passionately followed Christ no matter where it led them, to the mission field, to prison, and even to the home. One, Sarah Edwards, wife of Jonathan Edwards, was a faithful wife and mother leaving a godly legacy for generations to come and allowing God to use her husband mightily. No matter what station of life we find ourselves in, may we not allow societal norms to conform us to the pattern of this world. Let's let our God who is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us" lead us to greater things, whatever that may mean. (Eph. 3: 20)
2 comments:
Hi Tina! I read about your blog in the DBU Report and have enjoyed seeing how things are going in your life. your girls are precious! The book sounds great. the book club in our church was looking for a book to read and i will have to tell them about this one!
Dionne
Wow!!! I agree completely!!! It is so easy to forget that although I am at home it is still my job to make a difference in my home to the glory of God!!! I think I need to go and get that book!!! Have you ever read Fearlessly Feminine by Jane Ortlund? It's a great read as well! :) Thanks for this encouraging blog!!!
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