A few years ago, an older and wiser friend asked a question more to herself than to me: “Is it OK to be ordinary?” As she reflected back on her upbringing: to strive for greatness, to be the best, to reach for the top, she wondered about the “ordinary” people she knew who lived very simple lives of faithfulness to God. Didn’t it seem like each of them would hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant” at the end of their lives, just like the spiritual giants?

She wondered aloud, “How would God want me to live in the relatively brief time He has given me on this earth? What is His view of the ordinary?” 

We talked about how tempting it can be to compare our lives to those whose ministries seem more significant. To think to ourselves: God might perform a miracle or do great and mighty things through that person, but not through me. Do I even count in the big picture of what He's doing? Does my pebble make a ripple in the surface of the water or does it simply sink to the bottom without leaving a mark? 

I love the way ordinariness is highlighted in the description of Jesus’ disciples. When the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law “saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

They had been with Jesus. That's what made these fishermen stand out in stark contrast to the learned leaders of high position. Unschooled ordinary people made extraordinary by Who they knew. By the Great One they worshiped.

If we strive for greatness, we can easily switch our focus from the One who is truly great, to ourselves...and mistakenly think that we are great. 

So, could we embrace our ordinariness and find contentment with who we are? Who cares what level of status we reach? How many people remember our names after we're gone? In the end, what really matters is whether we loved well. Were we faithful? Did our ordinary lives point others to the One who is Extraordinary?