Encouragement for Your Daily, Ordinary Purpose
Last year I had the honor of writing for Stacey Pardoe, a writer whose message so beautifully aligns with mine here on The Everyday Faith Company. I hope you enjoy this message that fits in well with the Easter season as we search for significance in our daily routines!
I read the words on the delicate page in front of me. My mind pictures the scene, transporting me from my kitchen table to an olive garden where the sun still wakes. I see the warm light reflecting off a stone wall, illuminating a woman weeping. Mary Magdalene.
As my mind’s eye shifts focus, I notice the risen Christ walking barefoot in the cool blades of green. It’s not long before He opens Mary’s eyes to see His resurrected body. I read the words of Jesus giving Mary the greatest purpose there is: go and tell.
I sigh slightly, the shivers of wonder slowly fading as I glance up from my Bible. My eyes now see the reality around me. My dining room windows peeking at the ordinary view of the next door neighbor’s siding. I see my scuffed-up floors, my unfinished kitchen remodel, my laptop awaiting 8 a.m.
The peace and joy I felt while reading Mary’s story are shooed out of my heart. In their place stands one question: Will my purpose ever be anything besides ordinary?
The Fear of Insignificance
I love my life. I truly do. God has clearly worked in the nitty gritty of each detail to bring me to my current circumstances. But there are days when my work feels so ordinary I fear I’m slipping beyond the potential of doing something extraordinary for God.
Do you ever feel this way? Lost in the mundane of the present, fearful the future will never prove more than an ordinary life?
My own fear stems from feeling insignificant. If this is all God has asked of me, does that mean He believes I’m not capable of anything greater? Does He see me as ordinary, since His purpose for me right now is to push forward faithfully in the waist-high waters of routine?
We read stories like Jesus choosing Mary to be the first set of eyes to see His risen body and wonder where our own olive garden resides. When will we feel the warm light dance across our face and hear our Savior’s voice present us with a mission He’s chosen specifically for us?
How easily we forget Mary’s beginnings, though. While the stories of Mary living as a prostitute or living a sexually-sinful life are, in reality, nowhere to be found, we do know one thing: Mary’s purpose before the resurrection was what we all might consider ordinary.
Follow me to Stacey’s website to finish reading the article!
If you are wanting to learn more about Mary’s story and how it points to Jesus calling you by name, check out my Bible study, “He Calls Us by Name.” Learn more here!
