1664 Ordinary Meets Extra

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Whatever you’re facing today, God is still in complete control. Whatever your need may be today, God is aware of your need, and the moment you seek him, his power is set into motion to meet your need.

Our God is not limited to meet needs in ordinary ways, practical ways, or expected ways. Although often times his power meets us in disguise, so we are unaware of how miraculous it truly is. We experience split second perfect timing that was orchestrated in heaven just for us, but it seems ordinary so we don’t recognize it as miraculous. We walk into divinely opened doors which only God could open for us, but because it was open when we got there and required no extra effort on our part, we failed to notice God did that.

But all around you, God has been working. Every day of your life, God’s power has been on miraculous display in everything that seems ordinary. You likely never even notice … until God shows up and does something extraordinary.

Oh, I just love that word. Extraordinary. The combination of 2 words, extra and ordinary, making it the opposite of ordinary. Ordinary means normal and usual, but when given a little extra, it becomes totally not normal and completely unusual … it is extraordinary.

God is our extra. He can take our ordinary lives that seem unimpressive and normal, and he can make them radically extraordinary. You bring your ordinary, and he brings his extra. Let that be your prayer today. God, take my ordinary and make it extraordinary. I need the extra only you can offer!

One of Jesus’ extraordinary miracles on earth is recorded by Matthew in a single verse. None of the other gospels mention the miracle, so it seems to be less impressive than his other miracles. But I believe this miracle is precisely what you and I need today. We need to see Jesus’ extra meeting the ordinary.

Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the son of God. He has placed his faith in Jesus, committed his life to him. Then Peter is approached by tax collectors asking about Jesus’ payment of taxes. Funny, even Jesus was pestered by tax collectors. And this is what Jesus tells Peter to do in Matthew 17: 27, “Go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

This is what you call extraordinary. Jesus could have avoided paying the taxes. Afterall, this was the temple tax, money collected to build the temple. Jesus was greater than the temple. He could have flexed just a bit, shown who he really was and proven he was exempt from this tax. But, he didn’t. Jesus is humble, there’s no need to flex.

So, money was needed to pay the tax. A half-shekel, which was about 2 days wages. Jesus could have manifested the money in the pocket of his robe, and given it in an ordinary way. But Jesus decided to be extra. So extra, that he put a full shekel coin in the mouth of a fish for Peter to catch.

Y’all that is really extra, and I absolutely love it! This miracle hidden in a single verse in our bible shows us so much about our Jesus!

First, that he would invite Peter to be part of the miracle. He uses precisely what Peter is good at … fishing. Jesus simply tells Peter to go fishing, do what he’s always done, and the money will be provided.

Peter didn’t have to go out and do anything crazy. He just had to go fishing. Peter was a fisherman. He had fished nearly every day of his life. He knew how to tie a hook on. He knew how to cast that hook out. And he knew how to bring that fish in. And Jesus told him to do what was so ordinary for him, but this time it would be EXTRA. It would be extra-ordinary … extraordinary!

When Jesus invites you into a partnership with him, what is it you imagine you will need to do? Do you imagine you will need to do something big? Something really special? Something flashy? Something everyone will see? Honey, what if it will be as simple as doing what you’ve always done, but this time you just do it with Jesus working in and through you?

Peter fishing wasn’t anything big and special. If anyone would have seen Peter fishing that day, they would have thought absolutely nothing of it. But, Peter was fishing in partnership with Jesus and the catch would be radically different.

What if Jesus is inviting you into this miraculous partnership with him, but it’s not nearly as flashy as you imagined. It’s really quite ordinary. It’s what you’ve already been doing. It’s what you’ve been doing every day. It’s what you already know how to do. Would you do it? Really, would you show up and do what you’ve always done, but this time do it with Jesus?

Now, think about the power of God that is displayed in this single verse tucked away in a miracle no one else talked about.

Of all the fish in the sea, Jesus knew precisely which fish had a coin in it’s mouth. He also know exactly where that fish would need to be in order to bite Peter’s hook. God orchestrated all of that!

And what … you think God doesn’t care about the little details of your life? He cares where your hook lands. He directs which fish bites your hook. He orchestrates it all in such ordinary ways you may have missed it before. You miss it until he adds a little extra to it.

Do you need God to add a little extra today so you know it’s really him? Do you need to see his fingerprints so you know he’s really working in the details of your life? Girl, ask him! Ask him for a glimpse of his extraordinary power today.

I bet he’s done it for you before. I bet you’ve been in the right place at the right time. I bet you were enabled to speak words you didn’t know you had. I bet you had supernatural strength just when it was needed. I bet you’ve reached into your pocket and found forgotten money.

How absolutely extraordinary!!!! It’s already happening for you!!!!!

I wonder what else God will do for you and through you if you will keep showing up, doing the ordinary things you do, but do it as a committed partnership with him? What will he divinely align for your catch? What will he miraculously provide when you try again?

God knows what you need before you even need it. And he’s already put it in the mouth of a fish swimming right toward you … but putting the hook in the water is up to you. Girl, put your hook in the water!

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