Many Christians live normal lives. They live a life that is not glamorous and is even considered, by some standards, a very boring life. They are not Instagram famous, they’re not mega church pastors, or and they don’t travel the world. They don’t have much fame or popularity to their occupation or their hobbies. Their life is as normal as can be, living normal lives and doing normal things.
The problem is that they may feel like how they’re living is wrong. They think that there should be something more to their supposed “boring” life. So they desire the life of others and envy a different circumstance than what God has sovereignly ordained. For them, it is easy to be bored with the normal or the ordinary as they gaze upon others and their extraordinary life.
Interestingly enough, in this season we are actually experiencing a loss of the “normal.” The ordinary has been removed and our life routines have been interrupted. Now, people are longing for the ordinary and praying for the normal return. We should learn much from this experience. It causes us to appreciate our boring and mundane lives that we have taken for granted. If God is gracious to give that life back to us, we should be grateful and content.
This post is for the person who is discouraged over their allotment in life and for the one who feels that their life is mundane and meaningless. If you have struggled with being content with your normal life and long for something “better,” then meditate on these truths.
Your Ordinary Life Has a Purpose
God has fashioned the intricate details of your human body and He also planned the details of your place in life (Psalm 139:13-24). God was gracious enough to allow you to exist, and He showed His mercy by saving you. He who began a good work of salvation in you will complete that work until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6). This plan of salvation leads to glorification (Rom 8:30) and He will surely see His plans to the very end. Therefore, we should not lose heart since He is transforming us daily into the image of Christ through every experience of life (2 Corinthians 3:18 – 4:1), including the boring parts like doing the dishes and filing papers. There is a purpose behind all that we do in life, and in the end God will show us why He gave us this particularly ordinary life.
Your Ordinary Life is Uniquely Gifted
People are so concerned with what they don’t have that they forget about what they do have Jesus. God has uniquely gifted you for the work of His ministry (1 Cor 12; Eph 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11). He gave each you a spiritual gift that you must steward in your life and use in the Gospel ministry. Your gift may be different than the Christian next to you, or your manifests itself in a different capacity. Either way, God ordained that you display your particular gifting for the edification of your local church and the glory of God, so you have a role to play in the Gospel ministry. See the value of your ordinary gift expressed in your ordinary life.
Your Ordinary Life Is Needed
We’re quick to forget that we are needy and needed. We need other Christians in the local church and they need us (1 Cor 12:19-26). You cannot survive without other Christians, and they cannot survive without you. That ordinary life that seems so boring us isn’t so boring to the person who needs you. They see it as vital to their spiritual well-being.
Be encouraged, you are needed by your church more than you realize.
In addition to that, if you have a family, then it is likely that you play a major role in that family and they, too, need you in their life. They need your spiritual leadership, they need your Christian testimony, and they need your physical acts of service and your provision. As boring and uneventful as it seems, your life is needed by someone and you are cherished by someone.
Your Ordinary Life Is Treasured by God
God treasures you as a special treasure (Eph 1:11, 18). To clarify, God does not need you to do his work, but He does treasures you. Even though He does not need you to accomplish His purposes, He uses you and values you as His own. The Bible says that He considers you a trophy of His grace (Eph 2:10). He treasures you so much that He was willing to give His treasured Son for you, and He was willing to set His love upon you, the same love that He has for His Son (John 17:26). You may feel as though nobody appreciates you and, in turn, you feel like you don’t treasure your own life. Remember, the life you consider to be ugly, boring, and normal is a life that has rich value to God, and He cherishes you more than you realize.
Your Ordinary Life Can Bring You Joy
In the midst of the negative, find something positive. Rejoice always (2 Thess 5:16). Finding joy in the mundane is only difficult when our eyes are fixed on the horizontal. If we set our gaze vertically and look upon Christ, then joy will come naturally and will remain. Our happiness does not depend upon the dynamic details of the temporal life. Instead, our happiness depends upon our steadfast relationship with God. God is the true joy giver to the ordinary Christian. Our boring, normal lives can give us true joy if we are faithfully serving Him in our context. There can be joy in the everyday dinners with our kids, there is joy in taking out the trash, there is joy in seeing the same church members every Sunday, there is joy in the Monday commute, and there is joy in serving our parents.
Our lives will remain boring to us if we incorrectly think there is something better out there for our lives and we continue to embrace this misguided “fear of missing out.” On the contrary, this is the plan God has, and and this is the optimal scenario to give Him glory. Since God is sovereign, He has ordained that we would glorify Him in this specific way in our life, and He ordained that we would find joy in Him throughout this life.
Therefore, find the joy that is already present in your boring life and realize that your life, which is lived for Christ, really isn’t boring at all.
The Contenders 