Average Joe

This is a hard pill to swallow—to look around at my peers and see all they have accomplished, how far they have gotten in life, and the people they are impacting. Often, I can brush off these feelings of inadequacy by telling myself that I don’t really want the lives they are living. But that is a lie. I do! I want to make an impact, to make a difference. I want to have a family and work as a youth pastor, lead worship, or pastor a church. But God just hasn’t gifted me that way. I don’t stand out above the crowds for my wit or prowess with words or my great accomplishments. I’m an average joe.

Here is the truth. My heroes are not the people who are doing epic things or having sensational adventures, though they used to be. My heroes are a maintenance man that takes time to tell tenants about Jesus, a retired missionary who seeks to simply know God more, a farmer whose heart breaks for his unsaved neighbors, a woman who sits with an elderly mother so her kids can have a break, the man up the street who was hurt by my church yet chooses to forgive and hold no offense, a grandpa who faithfully visits prisoners without accolades or recognition, and a recent high school graduate who wanted to be a first responder but knew he couldn’t handle the atmosphere, so he changes his path.

Most of us will not die extraordinary deaths or do remarkable things for Christ. But what if the prize is in the ordinary? The world will not be changed on Sunday morning. The world is changed Monday through Saturday by a host of average joes, one kind word at a time, one intentional deed at a time, one toilet scrubbed to perfection, one more child disciplined, one leaky pipe or tire changed by the road, one more wrench turned, one more paper written, one more round on the tractor, one choice at a time. And only you can make that choice, only you will be sitting next to that person on the airplane, only you will be in that fender bender, only you work with those coworkers, only you are the father or mother of your kids, only you. That is who God wants, only you! Not your job, your fancy ideas of who you could be, or what you could do. God uses you in the everyday mundane things in life.

This life is not about us and we are fools to think it is. I used to pray for God to use me, but realized I prayed that because I didn’t want to feel left out. I wanted to feel needed by God. Praying for God to use US still puts too much of US in the picture. Words that have changed my life are rarely remembered by the speaker. That’s how it should be. So, take time to listen to others, hurt with those who are hurting, kick in the pants those who need it, seek to live a peaceful and quiet life. Send a text simply telling someone you are thinking of them, phone a friend, or an enemy, help put chairs away or simply say good morning to someone. The world will keep spinning when we are gone—read Ecclesiastes. We can’t change the world. But God uses average things to change the world. So do your average things and let God change the world.