Ordinary To Extraordinary . . .

I don't know about you, but I'm ordinary! There is nothing extraordinary about me, but before you get angry at me, for cutting myself down, let me explain; read on!
Many people are gifted in extraordinary ways! Some, are, exceptionally, gifted singers, their voices are extraordinary! We know who they are, they open their mouths to sing and it's music to our ears; they are gifted! Our ears identify, quickly, for us, those who are not! (It may be their dream, but if they don't have the vocal chords, they're barking up the wrong tree!) There are others known for their beauty or their physique. There are those gifted in technology, gifted actors or actresses and there are gifted writers! I am not any of those. We all have God given gifts and abilities, though, and some are extraordinary!
Of course, all of us would desire to be extraordinary at something! There may be things we enjoy doing and wish we were more gifted at, but we know it's just not to that degree. I've always loved art since I was "knee high to a grasshopper"! A little artistic ability makes crafts and hobbies fun! I've always had a love for music and I like alot of different kinds. I'm not a singer, I know better, I have a different, raspy sounding voice, that's suppose to be alto 2, but sounds more like tenor the older I get. I still enjoy making a joyful noise and the Lord is about the only one that longs to hear it! Lol. I love fingerstyle guitar! A cousin, that was exraordinarily gifted with voice and music came to visit when I was 8 years old, when she was about 12. She later played piano for the Grand Ole Opry, but that night she sang me to sleep with her guitar; singing all the Peter, Paul & Mary songs, that she so deeply loved! I fell in love with the guitar that night and just out of shear determination, taught myself to read music and, eventually,  to play fingerstyle guitar. It's a great hobby, I enjoy, but I am a long shot from being musically inclined. Lol. It's taken 47 years just to accomplish that!
God does give us ALL gifts and abilities in varying degrees (you can read about them in 1 Corinthians 13 in the Bible) we ALL have them, we were created with them to serve one another. When we try to use abilities that we don't have, we learn, quickly, that people are feeling we fall short. The things we excel in are the things we are gifted to do! When we use those gifts and abilities we find ourselves lifted up by them; they don't drain us, but empower us! These are the gifts and abilities when they can be applied in our work place, cause us to look forward to going to work! If we can put our gifts and abilities with a career, we find ourselves climbing to new heights and enjoying it. If we find ourselves stuck in a job we dread going to and is totally draining, we are, likely, required to do tasks, daily, that we aren't gifted at. If you feel you missed the boat when gifts were being given out, you're wrong. God created us all to be unique and He created us ALL with gifts and abilities.
I find myself to be pretty ordinary! Yes, I too, have gifts and abilities that are God given, none of them extraordinary, that stand out more than others. Some say, "You have the gift of encouragement, encouraging other people. Others say, "You have a gift of helping those in need." I enjoy helping and encouraging hurting people. Some people feel, totally,  drained when trying to help someone that's going through a difficult time; I don't, it lifts me up . . . it encourages me, it doesn't drain me.
So, why do we all desire to be extraordinary at something? Did you know God can make anyone extraordinary! You heard me right, we all were created to be extraordinary! We were created in God's image, we were created to have an intimate relationship with God and when we sit at His feet and do what we were created to do, spending time with Him, then God can take an ordinary person, like you and like me and make them extraordinary! This is what God created us to do! I love the words to this song, because it's what I was meant to do and to be! It's not what I have attained, but what I'm working at, it's what I long to be!

Not I, but Christ, be honored loved exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard.
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action;
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

(Here comes the phrase I can best relate to!)
The chorus:
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord (I can relate to that)
Oh, to be lost in Thee, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be, no more I, but Christ, who lives in me. (This is my goal, what I want to be.)

God's got alot of work to do in me! I fall far short! But what is exciting is that God chooses to take the ordinary people of this world and make them extraordinary! There's alot of examples in God's Word, but let's check out two of them today: Moses and David were both called by God to do something extraordinary. Moses, to lead God's people, Israel out of Egypt and David to be a king.
Moses was tending sheep, when God showed up and spoke to him from a burning bush and called him to go to Egypt to save His people (Israel) who were suffering at the hands of the Egyptians. God had heard their prayers and God had a plan! God's plan was Moses! What was so great about Moses? Nothing! Moses was tending sheep when God called him in Exodus 3 and it sure wasn't because he was confident! In Exodus 4:10 Moses says to the Lord, " O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." God was calling Moses to be His mouthpiece and Moses was afraid. Moses asked the Lord, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" You see, Moses missed the whole point, God was going to go with Him and give him abilities that he did not have! God was going to show Himself mighty, through Moses, who was just a shepherd! God in Moses, was the only thing that made him extraordinary!!!
What about David? God sent Samuel, the prophet, to call David, in 1 Samuel 16 to be king over Israel? (Samuel, too, was just a boy, when God called him in 1 Samuel 3, to be his prophet, check it out!)
The town trembled in fear when the prophet Samuel arrived. (They knew he was God's prophet!) They asked, "Do you come in peace?" Samuel replied, "Yes." and then Samuel followed all of God's instructions, just as God had given them. Samuel sacrificed a heifer and invited Jesse and his sons and consecrated them, just as God had said. God had told Samuel that he would show him what to do. "You are to anoint, for me, the one I indicate." Samuel did what the Lord said. When they arrived, seven of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel. Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (God was looking for a heart that was fully his, a heart turned toward him.) All seven of Jesse's son's that were present, passed before the prophet Samuel, but Samuel responded, "The Lord has not chosen these." So, he asked Jesse, "Are these all your sons?" "There is still the youngest, " Jesse answered, "but he is tending sheep." Samuel said, "Send for Him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. The the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
God had just anointed the next king of Israel. There would be a time of preparation, alot that David would endure, before he was, actually, made king in Saul's place, but it would be as God said, David would be king! Check it out, it's a true story!
There's many others like Moses and David that were ordinary men that God called to do extraordinary things! Paul was a murderer of Christians, when God called him; Peter, Andrew and John were rough fisherman. Matthew was a tax collector, cheat and swindler. God took these two sheep herders, Moses and David and empowered them to do things far beyond their gifts and abilities! God took the ordinary and made them extraordinary! God doesn't look at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart! God seen in the ordinary, is truly extraordinary and that comes, only, by time spent with God! I invite you to come and sit at my Lord's feet with me and learn of Him and let Him be seen in you! God is seeking a heart that is fully His, so He can display Himself in extraordinary ways!
If you are wearied by the menial tasks or jobs in your day to day life, God, in you, can make every task extraordinary! Many have voices to sing, but a singer that looks as if they are standing if the face of God Himself when they sing, because they sit at His feet, daily, that's extraordinary! A mother, that is picking up all the toys for the 5th time today, but is teaching her children how very special they are to God and that He has a plan and purpose for their life . . . that's extraordinary! Menial tasks of everyday life become a God sized mission, when done for His glory! Choose to be extraordinary! Sit at His feet!