Have you ever read Oswald Chambers’ biography?  Did you know that he was only 43 when he died?!  And he had already been a Bible college professor for 10 years, and died of a ruptured appendix in Egypt during WWI where he (and his wife and 4 year old daughter!) were ministering to British troops.  Sobering thought,eh?  How did he have so much wisdom and insight at such a “young” age?  And what does that say about us?! 

Chambers was never famous while living but, by God’s sovereign plan, married a court stenographer who kept an exact record of all his speeches and published them after his death.  Hmmm. I love the man all the more.  

Sometimes I jump up and down and tell God “I want to do something fantastic for you!”  But what usually happens is that I get up in the morning, stare blankly at my coffee cup, pack my kids’ lunches, stand at the bus stop in my PJs, make a grocery list, fold laundry… you know what I’m sayin’? 

Here’s what Chambers says about our “ordinary lives”: 

“Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different…  It does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not.  We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.” (Oct 21)  

Amen to that!I am having one of those seasons where my life is a bit chaotic and I am struggling to process and stay focused (I know, this never happens to you!).   

In this season, I am grateful for the inspiring voice of prophets calling in the wilderness … and I may share a few more of Chambers’ thoughts with you.  May we, as leaders and teachers, never get trapped into thinking we need to reinvent the wheel!  Let us be focused on doing the simple things of today – and doing them well, always listening for the voice of God in case He has something to say to us.  

“Our Lord call us to no special work, He calls us to Himself.”  (Oct 16) 

You can read Chambers’ biography and My Utmost for His Highest here http://utmost.org/