God Makes The Ordinary…Extraordinary!

Read Matthew 5-7

Autumn! It whispers to me to come out and see.

There is an old wooden sign in my laundry room that says, ”Come and sit with me and watch the birds and the butterflies.” Summer humidity is not my friend, so when the days become crisp and cooler, I find myself roaming out of doors more often to do just that. 

There is so much to see. The drab brown weeds and grasses mixed in with the bright and bursting blooms of the red and yellow mums against the bluest of skies as a backdrop lift me up. It also seems that every type of insect is more abundant and flirtatious with the earth. Bees, crickets, butterflies, ants, spiders, and grasshoppers seem to be dancing, leaping, and praising God. Sometimes, as I sit watching and listening to the symphony around me, I ask the Holy Spirit questions about this and that. In His generous graciousness, He answers. 

I believe the art of nature can teach us just how good God is. His love in creating this awesome world draws me to His chest, and I can hear more clearly the beating of His faithful, loving heart. Our lives are filled with common, ordinary things, and nature spills over with these common things…but in His hands they become extraordinary.

In one of the most familiar passages of the Gospels, The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed to the common things of life to teach great truths. He spoke of lilies and sparrows, a sower with his seed, grapevines, and even salt and yeast. Many of these ordinary things were probably within arm’s reach of where He was sitting.

Seated on the Mount, He and His followers were able to see vineyards and olive groves, fields and flowers, and birds above with the sea below. These were common things. Familiar. I wonder, if after Jesus spoke, did His followers look and experience these common things differently? When Jesus spoke, “Behold the fowls of the air…,” I think He pointed, and all the heads in the crowd tilted up and saw firsthand a truth come alive. Also when He spoke, “Consider the lilies of the field…,” He waved His arm before Him, picked a posy, and spoke again. The common, the ordinary became extraordinary.

So too for us. The beauty and art of God speak as they surround us. Look and listen and be amazed. Then pause and worship the One who made you. Capture the Extraordinary! 

~ Beth Bankert 
Heartland Writers Circle