BE EXTRAORDINARY!

Recently at Mass, one of our Priests made a referance to a video you may have seen that’s been around for a while about Empathy. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at it because it has a very powerful message. In the video, we see ordinary people, just like the ones we pass by every day. What makes the video so powerful is that we also get something more. We get insight into a major event that is happening at that moment in these everyday lives. For example, maybe someone you passed by at the grocery store just lost their job, or maybe someone’s teenage daughter is pregnant, or maybe someone’s car broke down and can’t afford to fix it, or maybe someone’s family member struggling with depression.

The video does an excellent job of bringing attention to the fact that we don’t usually know what’s going on in someone’s life, unless perhaps it’s a good friend or family member who has shared something with us. Ultimately, the video teaches us that it comes down to how someone is treated. For example:

• If you thought that the cashier who just gave you your change at the store was extremely rude and unfriendly, would you think of them differently if you knew that tomorrow, she’s being evicted?
• If you were upset at the guy who bumped into you at the mall and he never bothered to turn and say “excuse me”, but you knew it was because his wife just left him, would that make it OK?
• If you discovered from a mutual friend that someone you’ve known since you were kids was gay, would you look at them differently?

In all of these situations, would you feel differently if you knew the truth? Would you reach out to someone? Would you make a phone call? Would you offer to help? Would you even have some empathy?

It’s amazing how we look at people when we don’t know what is going on in their life as opposed to when we do. If only we could walk in someone else’s shoes for a day. What we often forget is that even though other people might not know what’s going on in our lives, there is someone who ALWAYS knows what’s going on with us…God. He knows everything that is happening in our lives. He knows exactly what we are doing at all times. He knows what we are thinking, what we are feeling, what we are trying to do, what we’ve already done and even what we want to do. He even knows how many hairs are on your head (Luke 12: 7)

But of all of the things that God already knows about us, there is one thing that I find to be very inspiring. It’s not that he knows what we have done, but what we are capable of doing! It’s not that he knows who we are, but who we are capable of being! Why is this so important? Because if you have been thinking to yourself, “It’s just not possible” or “That’s never going to happen” just take a look at Mark 10: 27, which says;

Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”

I can only compare this to a coach for a sports team. Maybe there is a player on his team who always likes to play one particular position all the time because in her mind, that’s the position she feels she can do the best job. But maybe her coach sees something else, something more, or something even greater. He sees potential that the player doesn't even see in her self.

God doesn’t want you to just be satisfied in who you are. He not only wants more for you, but he wants more of you. If you are familiar with my site, you’ve seen that I love music as well as videos that inspire. There is a song by Casting Crowns called Thrive. It talks about this very thing. Part of the chorus goes like this:

We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive

God did not create us just so we could go about our ordinary day. Even if you just added 1 prayer to your day it wouldn’t be ordinary, it would be extra-ordinary. And what if you added 5 prayers to your day, or 10 or 15 prayers? Just imagine what kind of day you would have. Maybe it wouldn’t feel extraordinary, but consider this. Earlier in this article, I mentioned Mark 10: 27. If you continue reading, a couple of verses later Jesus tells us that when we give of ourselves for him, in return we will receive a hundred times as much! But it doesn’t stop there. He also tells us that by doing these things we WILL receive eternal life. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty awesome.

Maybe, just maybe, God has been calling you to do something more but you haven’t heard him. Or maybe you have heard him but you think it’s not possible. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have created you in the first place. We are ALL capable of more. Today, make it a point to ask God to show you what it is you are capable of. And since many of us, including myself, don’t always just ask him to show you, ask him to make it clear to you. Believe me, he will.

Don’t forget, it only takes a little to go from ordinary to extraordinary.