.png)
Ordinary to Extraordinary
- amy5534
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
A few months ago, my pastor
David Camp at WCC
spoke on the ordinary being used by God in extraordinary ways.
He reminded us about Rosa Parks. Who was used by God to bring about huge changes in the civil rights movement.
Her reason for not giving up her seat that historic day on the public bus was because she was tired.
She was tired not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
Her response when asked why she just didn’t give up her seat like she had done so many other times in the past was….
“I was tired of giving in”
This sermon sparked a Holy Spirit download and brought me to tears later that same Sunday morning.
You see, that had been me in my marriage. To keep the peace, to keep anger, manipulation, and emotional abuse at bay I just “gave in”. It was easier, and I thought it was what a good Christian wife did.
We submit.
We put our needs last until there is nothing left of ourselves. I sure did. I didn’t even remember what I enjoyed anymore because it didn’t really matter.
Until that one fateful day, to protect my boys and keep them safe, I stood my ground and said “no more”…. And that’s the night everything changed.
God knew I would have stayed in my marriage and continued to lose more and more of myself until nothing was left of who I truly was.
You see, we serve a God that creates us for His purpose. But when we place others in His rightful place, they become idols, and we confuse who we are and what we were created for.
We exchange His truth and purpose for our lives with the lie that is built upon how this other person treats us or acts towards us.
This is a horrible scheme of the enemy, and it gets reinforced into strongholds throughput our lives robbing us of the Truth of who we are!
Our God is a jealous God and He desires to have an intimate relationship with each of us and to be the One who rules and reigns in our lives. When we place others in that position (even our spouse) it throws our lives out of balance and that other person becomes our “god”.
Throughout my life I had never doubted My love of Jesus or His love for me. I had not however, made Him Lord of my life. I had put my husband in that position and because he is a human he failed miserably. As any human would.
You see, had I not almost lost my life the night I stood up and said “no more” I would have kept believing in a distorted “religious belief” of what a good Christian marriage looked like. And also a distorted belief in who I am and ultimately…..who God is.
I had distorted the One who is Truth to fit my beliefs and dysfunctional marriage.
The wonderful thing is Truth wins and the One who is Love reigns.
And that night, I like Rosa Parks, learned that being tired of “giving in” would spark the true beginning of a change I could not have foreseen.
I certainly wouldn’t have chosen this path.
It hasn’t been easy or “normal”, but it has led me back to my one true love, Jesus, and back to my true self.
Now my life is submitted to fulfilling His purposes
and learning how to receive more of His unimaginably Big love for me.
You see His love covers a multitude of sin and I get to leave shame behind. His love never fails and defines me as chosen, beautifully made, and cherished. I now walk with my head held high because I am a daughter of the One True King!!
From this broken, tired vessel He brought forth a ministry.
My ministry is called Beyond Brokenness, and we partner with single moms and widows to find hope, healing, and support.
Jesus is the One who brings beauty for ashes, and I am honored to serve these women and their children and get the privilege to witness lives transformed.
Comentarios