Extraordinary You

Have you ever really looked at a seed? Most seeds are pretty plain, unassuming, lack luster. They seem dead. They are strewn everywhere by the wind and critters. Somehow one falls into good soil and receives the water and nutrients it needs. It is almost miraculous in many ways to watch it become what it was meant to be. Whether a beautiful flower, a tomato plant, or a majestic tree, it began with an ordinary looking seed. It went from ordinary to extraordinary. The many obstacles it must survive, like attacks by bugs, being trampled by an animal, droughts, or disease makes it all the more extraordinary.  

Sometimes I feel utterly ordinary, lack luster, plain. Forgetting that all I am created to be was placed in me from the beginning of time. Ever been there? Flooded with doubt and overwhelmed by the ordinariness of your life?

In these moments, I am drawn to an event, a celebration where Jesus takes something mundane, plain, utilitarian, and makes it into something extravagant, excellent, extraordinary. We find Jesus at a wedding in Cana. He is celebrating with friends and family. Enjoying making memories with those he loved. A little problem arose, they ran out of wine. Now to us this seems simple enough. Go to the store and get more. Not so, in those days. Jesus' mom, Mary, comes to him to tell him of this issue. His reply, "Dear woman, that's not our problem," (John 2:4a). Mary instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do, in essence ignoring her son's reply. Then as you may or may not know, Jesus does something amazing.

"Standing nearby were six stone jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.' When the jars had been filled, he said, 'Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.' So the servants followed his instructions.

When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine," (John 2: 6-9a, NLT).

Jesus took jars that usually held water for washing the Jews feet and hands, and did something jaw dropping, something unexpected, something awesome. He took ordinary water and turned it into wine. Not just wine but "the best" (v. 10c) wine. He made the ordinary into something extraordinary.

God's plan has always been to take ordinary ol' me and ordinary ol' you and make us extraordinary. "For we are God's masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10, NLT). A masterpiece is created by taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary. We are more like the seed than the water. All that is needed to live an extraordinary life is within us, placed there by God from the beginning of time. It begins to grow when we encounter Jesus, planting ourselves in good soil. It is nourished by spending time with Jesus. It flourishes when we continually strive to follow him - to be like him and to do things like he does. Sometimes we struggle and go through difficult times. Sometimes we feel trampled. Sometimes we are faced with horrible illness. Even so, in time we become what we were meant to be all along - extraordinary masterpieces. Our ordinary is molded, shaped, and transformed into extraordinary.

  

What is holding you back from becoming extraordinary? What stands in the way of you flourishing?