Life-Changing News

Unusual times.  Those two words well describe the conditions of our current everyday, ordinary days.  Perhaps (hopefully) you have adjusted to a new normal.  You have spent more time indoors.  The movies you watched were on your flat screen rather than the Big Screen.  (At least the popcorn and sodas were cheaper!)

As I think about the way COVID-19 has changed our world, I become more aware that lives are changed daily for people with or without COVID-19's presence.  Perhaps (probably) you relate to some of these life-altering words . . .
     "Honey, I'm pregnant."
     "Mom, promise you won't freak out, but . . ."
     "It's cancer."
     "I'm sorry, we did all we could do."
     "Congratulations, you just won . . ."
     "You're hired."
     "You're fired."
     "And the next graduate is . . ."
Phrases, positive and negative alike, impact our lives.  This is where Ordinary kicks in.

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Romans 12:1 (MSG) - So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Your everyday, ordinary life looks different than mine, just as mine looks different than anyone else's.  Think with me for a moment or two about King David.  Read these two samples of his writing.

Psalm 9:1-4 (NIV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)
Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

The same man praises God when his enemies turned back and when he walked through the darkest valley.  David placed each of his days (good days and bad days) in the hands of God.

Today is a great day to do the same.  Praise God in whatever may come.  If today you are filled with joy, praise God.  If today you are weeping with sadness, praise God.  Heed the words of the Sons of Korah.

Psalm 42:11 (NIV)
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

#ordinarylives