The quiet Christian life
I expected life to always be exciting. When I graduated college in May 2012, I thought my life would start looking like those crazy missionaries who see miracles or Joseph saving Egypt from famine. Surely God was going to call me to do something totally awesome and exciting.
Fast forward a year. My life is no more exciting than it ever was. I spend most of my days at work, either immersed in a project or waiting for a new one to begin, all the while trying not to dwell too much on the fact that most of what I do is pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things. After prayer and deliberation, I’ve concluded that for now, God wants me to stay close to where I grew up and invest in the local church and develop relationships with people locally. No adventures in closed countries for me, at least for now, and probably never.
I’ve watched close friends get married and have children or move away for some glamorous career while my life stays the same. Sometimes I’m alone in my house, making yet another smoothie for dinner all by myself, and I feel like I’m missing something. Shouldn’t life be a little more…well, exciting?
God has taught me a lot through this time in my life, though, and I have a feeling I have a lot more to learn. We hear stories of others doing awesome things for God, but we forget that what we hear is usually a result of years of a quiet, normal life, months spent in prayer and doing hard work. Think of Joseph, who spent years of doubtless monotony in prison before God used him to deliver Egypt. Or of Abraham, who believed God’s promise to give him countless descendants but never actually saw it happen and spent most of his years on Earth quietly.
Maybe God wants to do something crazy with my life, but realistically, most Christians just live a normal life. For now, I’m learning how to obey God and be content where I am. He sends beautiful, fantastic revelation of himself to me through Scripture, or a beautiful sky, or a yummy cup of coffee. I don’t need to go overseas or get married to find God. He doesn’t promise that I won’t spend my days eating smoothies in a normal house with no human company, but he does promise to be with me wherever I am, and that’s better than any adventurous life I could dream up.