One of my favorite movies is Hallmark’s “The Magic of Ordinary Days”. Livy is an unwed mother in need of a quick marriage before the birth of her baby to avoid scandal in WW2 era. She travels to a small country town to marry a man she doesn’t know. As the story unfolds, we see “the magic of ordinary days” causes their hearts to soften towards each other and love comes softly in their hearts. What a wonderful love story!
I don’t know about you, but upon first thought I do not associate “ordinary” with “magical” in most of my current life situations. Ordinary, for me, is usually something like this: get up & take the kids to school, go to work, interact at work, make dinner, walk the dog, help with homework, fall in bed and wake up to do it all over the next day again. It all seems extremely ordinary but underneath all the ordinary the miraculous hand of God is working.
Yes, His hand is working in our ordinary days, whether we see it or not. He’s working, weaving, His plan and purpose into our days. We may not see it, recognize it, or feel it, but His hand, His invisible hand, is orchestrating all.
A good biblical example of this is the story of Ruth and Naomi (Book of Ruth). The story starts out with Ruth and Naomi having anything but ordinary days! They had both lost their husbands and then took the steps to move from the land of Moab back to Israel. Their days had been tumultuous, filled with sorrow. In fact, Naomi even re-named herself “Mara” which means bitter. Life had been sad, angering, and disappointing.
Together, mother and daughter-in-law, they returned to the land of Israel and their lives began to take on more of an ordinary aspect. Ruth, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, had probably been accustomed to being a homemaker when her husband was living. But since he had passed away and now she was in a new land, Ruth found herself rolling up her sleeves and getting to work in the fields of Boaz. It was quite an ordinary thing— this gathering of grain, especially as it was leftover for the foreigners, poor, and the widowed. She went to gather day after day. She did not see or understand the invisible hand of God working through her ordinary days until much later. In fact, it would be in chapter four that we see the reward of Ruth and Naomi, and how they were redeemed:
Through Boaz, a man of noble character who was related to Naomi’s husband— a contract was made. He bought the land of a relative and it made him the guardian/redeemer of both Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 4:1-11).
“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. She gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Ruth 4:13-17
It was through these ordinary days that God was working a miracle in Ruth’s life (Naomi’s too). God placed Ruth in the exact spot he wanted her to be. She could not see the plan of God unfolding around her. In the devotional, “Jesus Always” by Sarah Young, she says (from God’s perspective):
I can see the big picture from before your birth and beyond the grave. I know exactly what you will be like when Heaven becomes your forever home. I am continually working to transform you into this perfect creation. You are royalty in My Kingdom!
October 16
Take heart, friend— God sees all! He sees the big picture from beginning to end. He uses the ordinary days— when it seems like nothing new is happening or perhaps it just feels like the same-old struggles where there is no help or no plan— and He forms and uses those days for His glory. God uses those days to sweep His invisible hand into our lives working, orchestrating, weaving a beautiful tapestry in our lives. This “weaving” cannot often be see as it’s in process, but it is one that we will look back on and realize— as love fills our hearts and perhaps even tears fill our eyes— that the Lord’s hand was in the ordinary days.
He is faithful!
I encourage you to recount and recall the Lord’s faithfulness in your life. Allow faith to be built up in your heart by this practice. Remember the days, the situations that God’s faithfulness has shone through! Perhaps you did not see it until that chapter of your story was closed but there it is shining bright. Recall those things. Thank God for those things, worship God for those things, knowing that He is coming through for you. He is working all things together for good.
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
His Spirit is working, weaving in and out of our lives— in and out of every moment. He is making a beautiful tapestry of His love and our lives.
Here’s my prayer for us today: Lord, I ask that you would open our eyes to the beauty of these ordinary days, even in the midst of challenge and great circumstances. I pray that we would cling to you knowing that your faithfulness is true, that your invisible hand is weaving and orchestrating and working all things together for good. We put our trust in you. We know that you are good. We know that you are faithful. You have pulled us through time and time again. And we know that you are working to pull us through this time as well. We hold on to you and we thank you for your hand in the ordinary days. In Jesus’ name Amen.
Until next time,
P.S. Here are some pictures of some of our ordinary days this fall. There’s been great challenge and circumstances but God is working His plan in our lives! His Holy Spirit is weaving His love into our hearts at every turn just as he is doing for you!
Melanie Talevski 