Seeing the Extraordinary Through the Ordinary
Friday, November 19, 2010 at 10:54AM 
“Three minutes makes a difference”, I told my wife as she was negotiating with herself this morning about when to get up. I had just popped this thought out at her, not really thinking first. But then I started thinking about how much can change in three minutes. Last night, we watched the news before bed. There was a family featured. This family had been driving home one night when their car struck a deer, flying through their windshield and out of the back window. This only took seconds, but changed their lives, not to mention their view of driving at night, forever.
I went to my Bible and read Luke 2, later this morning. Jesus had just been born and now the heavenly hosts wanted to rejoice. Shepherds tending their flock at night are terrified, as their ordinary night watch became a visit from an angel declaring the birth of our Lord. “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them…” Then “… suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God…” These shepherds would never forget these minutes, for as long as they lived. For the shepherds, the sudden visitation altered their course to Bethlehem.
Imagine what Simeon saw eight days later. He was a righteous man who was given a promise. “And it had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” I wonder what Simeon’s eyes saw that day? A young couple bringing their first-born son into the temple was an ordinary event. Simeon must have seen these families again and again over his years in the temple. But, there had to have been a moment when Simeon’s attention was brought to the revelation that, “there He is”, this is the Christ! “Then he (Simeon) took Him into his arms, and blessed God”. These extraordinary minutes were a special blessing to Simeon by God.
In a moment you can share this very same Christ that Simeon held with another. In a moment, a person can turn from darkness into magnificent light. The Lord does this by the power of the Holy Spirit, yet allows us to participate in sharing this Good News. As you pray to see the extraordinary in the ordinary today, seek to share Jesus Christ with those around you as God provides.
It only takes a minute! The difference between a Christian and an evangelist is this. When an evangelist sees an opportunity to share Christ with someone and gets a little nervous, they move forward and share Christ anyway. So can you.
I am collecting stories about how the Lord uses us to share the Gospel in everyday situations. Will you share your story with me? Together we can share Christ with those around us and encourage one another with these stories.
Reader Comments (1)
One of the ways the Lord is using me to share the Gospel is through writing articles and posting them on a Blog just like Marcus has done for this site. I recently wrote an article on how I came to know the Truth about Jesus Christ. If you would like to read it go to www.championsinchrist.wordpress.com and click on the article A GIFT FOR THE NEW YEAR.