No Such Thing as Ordinary

Thanks for joining us for today's reading from the Our Daily Bread devotional. It was written by Karen Huang, and she titled it, No Such Thing as Ordinary. When Anita passed away in her sleep on her 90th birthday, the quietness of her departure reflected the quietness of her life. A widow, she had been devoted to her children and grandchildren and to being a friend to younger women in the church. Anita wasn't particularly remarkable in talent or achievement, but her deep faith in God inspired those who knew her. When I don't know what to do about a problem, a friend of mine said, I don't think about the words of a famous preacher or author, I think about what Anita would say.

Many of us are like Anita, ordinary people living ordinary lives. Our names will never be in the news, and we won't have monuments built in our honor, but a life lived with faith in Jesus is never ordinary. Some of the people listed in Hebrews chapter 11 were not named. They walked the path of obscurity and did not receive the reward promised to them in this life. Yet, because they obeyed God, their faith wasn't in vain. God used their lives in ways that went beyond their lack of notoriety. If you feel discouraged about the seeming ordinary state of your life, remember that a life lived by faith in God has an impact throughout eternity. Even if we're ordinary, we can have an extraordinary faith.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 and verses 32 through 40. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning. They were sawed in two. They were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Let's pray. Faithful Father, living a life of faith in You isn't always easy. Help us, God, to trust and obey You, because our faith is never in vain. May we be that someone people go to for advice and prayer, because our lives reflect the God we serve. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Joyce Dinkins. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.