More than Ordinary

No one of our age has ever taken power...which is why we're too young to realize that certain things are impossible. So we will do them anyway. {amazing grace}

William Wilberforce was an ordinary man. Born in 1759, he became an independent member of Parliament for Yorkshire in 1784 and was converted to Christianity a year later. In 1787, he met Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More, Granville Sharp, and others who convinced him to take on the cause of abolition. From then on, he worked tirelessly for years to abolish the slave trade throughout the British Empire, finally resulting in the Slave Trade Act 1807. He also "tranformed the hearts and minds of his countrymen on education, health care and prison reform to accomplish his second great dream - making a better world."

Ordinary, yes. But God used him to do extraordinary things - no one would argue that abolishing the slave trade was an ordinary task - and his life became more than ordinary.

I'm an ordinary person. I'm a human with human emotions and human desires, limited human knowledge and judgement, a limited human mind. God created me that way. He created everyone that way. We're all human, and we all fail and sin like humans.

William Wilberforce was no different. David, a man after God's own heart, was no different. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was no different. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was no different. But though each of them was ordinary, each of their lives was more than ordinary. Why? Because God assigned them an extraordinary task to accomplish. And then He empowered them with the strength they needed to accomplish it.

God placed each of them and each of us where they were and where we are for such a time as this - whatever "this" means for each person. He created us with our lifespan, our life works, our life story, our life accomplishments in mind. He knew before He created time what we were going to do and why we were on this earth at the time that we are. He has placed you and I right here, right now, for a reason, a perfect reason, and all of us are just a fraction of His bigger plan. Even though at times it doesn't seem like it, He always knows what He's doing.

So I'm ordinary. But God can make me more than ordinary. He can empower me to do bigger things than I ever imagined were possible. He has incredible plans for my life, and He can take the ordinary-ness of my life and twist it and turn it upside-down until I shine with extraordinary-ness. He can make my little plans for my life explode until they make an unstoppable difference in the world.

So I am unstoppably ordinary. I am an ordinary person whom God can make much, much more than ordinary. But a responsibility for me comes along with that. God can bless me all He wants, but if I just sit back and wait for it, I will get nowhere. Blessing, just like salvation, is a two-way conversation: He offers, and I accept.

I'll wait for the offer. And then I will accept. I want to be more than ordinary.

I want to be unstoppable. God is. If He's in me, than I can be too. It's time to move some mountains.