Day 6 Coming Alive at Christmas + Melissa Taylor OBS blog hop on GREATER

If you are joining me for Day 6 of Coming Alive at Christmas: welcome back. If you are joining for t
he Greater Post for Melissa Taylor’s Online Bible Study:  Welcome !  I am so excited you joined me here!  It was easy to link these posts together.. because the Christmas story is full of examples of GREATER things God did, greater then could be asked or imagined.

If you have not please check out my friend Melissa Taylors Online Bible Study at www.melissataylor.org
This weeks chapters from the book Greater were chock full of powerful truths.. the kind that you have to stop and ponder though. The wow what are you saying to me God kind.
The story is told of Elisha and how he was going about His ordinary life of plowing when Elijah came and share with Elisha  in 1 Kings 19 that He was going to be the next prophet of God.

THAT’S PRETTY BIG STUFF!

I love it.  P32 of the Greater Book has an incredible quote.  ” Your marching along to the beat of the ordinary.  Then one day the ordinary is interrupted by a calling.  That calling can change everything if you discern it!”

Think about the Christmas story– let’s take Mary.  The mother of Jesus. Can you imagine. Just being an ordinary girl engaged to the Carpenter boy next door.  In today’s time probably you would be busy on pintrest pintresting a wonderful DIY wedding.  Maybe doodling what your new last name will look like.
Never in your wildest of days would you imagine that your ordinary life is about to be interrupted with the calling to be the MOTHER OF GOD’ S SON.. that’s kindof a big deal.

Talk about the ordinary being interrupted by a calling.
Joseph to– He was marching along to the beat of his ordinary hammering out carpentry stuff kindof life when He learned He was going to be the Father of Jesus without really being the Father of Jesus. Kindof complicated to explain to your family at the next family gathering!

The ordinary interrupted by a calling.

Matthew 4:20 is our reflection verse this week. At once  the disciples left their nets and followed him.
AT ONCE.
At once mary said Luke 1:37 nothing will be impossible with God.

I did alot of reflection on these chapters because I had to think about what this looks like for me.  See I cannot remember the last time I lived an “ordinary life”.  For me I always want the adventure, the extremes… I lived in a 3rd world dangerous country as a single gal for goodness sakes.  I was soo excited when God called me to go there to live in Nepal.

sure there were moments it was really really hard, but I really really loved it. I missed my family, I missed the comforts of home.  But I became comfortable.  I had reached what I believed was the “ultimate” Christian status.  I was a career missionary , answering God’s call.  I had reached “it”.  I had listened to God reach into my ordinary life, call me to the extraordinary and I had answered.. I had arrived.. and I was done.

So.. I.. thought..

See that was my own comfort zone.  My own form of ordinary.

But what happened when, a year into my time as career missionary in Nepal, God began to whisper this is not all I have for you. He interrupted what had become my ordinary life there and said return home.  He said drop these nets for another.

But Lord, I already dropped my net for you…. how could you tell me I need to drop this. What if you take me back to an ordinary life back in the US?

It took me a long while to listen to God’s voice and be obedient. I didn’t immediately obediently drop my net… I was afraid.. I had to let go of pride, ideas of my life story, my identity as a missionary… but Jesus said drop your net

so i’ve been home for 3 years now listening to where Jesus wants me to drop my net!  and the fun thing is it’s been anything but ordinary because I serve an extraordinary God.

So I am challenging myself today, and you.. will I continually listen to how God wants to interrupt my ordinary life?  will I be like mary and say Luke 1:38 behold the bondslave of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word?