No Such Thing as Ordinary

<p>When Anita passed away in her sleep on her ninetieth birthday, the quietness of her departure reflected the quietness of her life. A widow, she had been devoted to her children and grandchildren, and to being a friend to younger women in church.</p> <p>Anita wasn&rsquo;t particularly remarkable in talent or achievement. But her deep faith in God inspired those who knew her. &ldquo;When I don&rsquo;t know what to do about a problem,&rdquo; a friend of mine said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about the words of a famous preacher or author. I think about what Anita would say.&rdquo;</p> <p>Many of us are like Anita&mdash;ordinary people living ordinary lives. Our names will never be in the news, and we won&rsquo;t have monuments built in our honor. But a life lived with faith in Jesus is never ordinary. Some of the people listed in Hebrews 11 were not named (vv. 35&ndash;38); they walked the path of obscurity and did not receive the reward promised to them in this life (v. 39). Yet, because they obeyed God, their faith wasn&rsquo;t in vain. God used their lives in ways that went beyond their lack of notoriety (v. 40).</p> <p>If you feel discouraged about the seeming ordinary state of your life, remember that a life lived by faith in God has an impact throughout eternity. Even if we&rsquo;re ordinary, we can have an extraordinary faith.</p>