Standing on one foot, I counted seconds and looked out the kitchen window. A downy woodpecker paused in drilling for his breakfast, almost as if he sensed my gaze, and the leaves around him glistened with the morning’s heavy dew. My mind-numbing morning exercise routine has made me an avid observer of the world outside my window. Movement intended to improve my balance and maintain strength and flexibility is also increasing my curiosity and my ability to observe small seasonal changes and to appreciate God’s subtle gifts of natural loveliness.
Some days, though, to be honest, it all feels pretty inconsequential. Zooming toward “retirement age,” it’s apparent to me that I haven’t exactly had a stellar career (and I have no intention of retiring from being a grandmother!) If I had to provide evidence that I have lived an extraordinary life, I’m afraid I’d be hard-pressed!
How about you? Did you ever think you might have been meant to live an extraordinary life? Did your academic gifts, musical accomplishments, or sporting prowess point to future greatness that hasn’t really panned out?
Of course, this begs the question: What constitutes an extraordinary life?
Were you meant to live an extraordinary life? True maturity means living the life that was meant for you.
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The Extraordinary Goal of True Maturity
Paul’s letter to the Romans is both deeply theological and intensely practical, so by the time we reach Romans 12, he has already covered the importance of obedience and the need to kill sin, lest it be killing you.1 He informs us that God’s design, all his good plans and purposes for your life and mine, have more to do with maturity than magic, more to do with wisdom than the WOW factor.
“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands, and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”
(Romans 12:2 JBP)
Was I meant to live an extraordinary life?
“True maturity” means living the life that was meant for me.
And what does that mean? It’s almost as if Paul was listening in to our conversation here when he wrote Romans 12:3:
“As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all.”
As Wendell Berry has said succinctly: “We live the given life, and not the planned.”
Living my given life, I have been led, and I’m certain that I continue to be led. I was reminded of this recently in a newsletter that quoted from The Hobbit: “When [Bilbo Baggins] had left Hobbiton he had wandered off aimlessly, along the Road or in the country on either side; but somehow he had steered all the time towards Rivendell.”
I am being “steered” by a Good Shepherd. My exercising, garden-growing, substitute-teaching, grandchild-loving life is my own extraordinary life. It is the life God has meant for me.
God’s skillful steering work is evident in the way I met my husband, the writing and teaching ministry I enjoy now, and even in our winding up living on this country hill. There hasn’t been a detailed map, and often I have seen the work of God only retroactively as I have looked back over my shoulder in amazement.
Have you found this to be true as well?
Have you ever felt as if you weren’t living the extraordinary life you had expected?
Do you ever feel lost, as if maybe you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way?
Are you aware that your given life is the life you were meant to live?
Holding you in the light,
- From John Owen’s Mortification of Sin ↩︎
I am being “steered” by a Good Shepherd. My exercising, garden-growing, substitute-teaching, grandchild-loving life is my own extraordinary life. It is the life God has meant for me.
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See all my Given—One Word 2024 posts here.
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Living Our Days 
My life is definitely not what Imagined it to be when i was a teenager. BUT GOD in his infinite wisdom had made it so much better than I could have ever dreamed.
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One Word #4
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Better than we can dream! That’s the way God works, isn’t it?!
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God always gives us better than we could ever give to ourselves. Our plans can’t ever measure up to the wonderful plans He has for us. We don’t always see the good in His plan, but it is there!
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Somewhere I read of someone asking Edith Schaeffer who she thought the most influential Christian woman was. Her answer was something like, “Probably someone few people know.” God calls some to be like Moses or Joshua or David or Paul, out front leading others. But I think the vast majority of His most faithful and influential people are shining their lights in everyday spaces and situations.
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What a great point! And I just finished reviewing a commentary on Hebrews in which the author suggests that the anonymous author may have been a locally known but otherwise unremarkable church leader whose name has been lost to history—but whose work has endured. I thought that was SUCH A GREAT THEORY!
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There is so much wisdom shared in this post. Thank you, Michele, for letting us experience your struggles honestly and vulnerably. Most of us who love Jesus are living a life we wouldn’t have chosen, but also wouldn’t change a thing. This is what He has chosen and though uncomfortable it is the safest place to live. We follow the Shepherd of our souls for He is the only One who can lead us safely home.
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Exactly, “we wouldn’t change a thing” even if we could. And honestly, I am in awe at the way God has protected me from my own goals and ambitions in order to pile blessings upon me that I couldn’t even have imagined.
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I feel like my given life is the one I was meant to have; sure other choices along my path could have led somewhere else but then I wouldn’t have the people in it and the life I love so much!
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Yes! I can’t even imagine what the world would be like without my kids in it! We are uniquely and abundantly blessed!
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Is this the extraordinary life you had expected? Probably not. But … it has been extraordinary. I have seen God’s hand at work in ways I would have missed if I had lived the life I expected. I am most grateful for His hand which has steered my life, and my family, all along the way. I am grateful for the life I have been given for God knew exactly what was needed.
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So True! I wouldn’t want to have missed the blessings of my given life in order to have lived the life I had planned. That’s such a great insight, Joanne!
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You are giving us a bunch of deeply reflective questions, friend. Your timing is perfect as today is my birthday. As I’m reading your thoughts, the verse, ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’ is whispering in my soul. That’s where I find myself at age 69. And I am grateful even if I haven’t achieved notoriety, greatness, or notice. It’s a very good place to be.
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Happy Birthday, August Girl! I’m so glad to hear that you are content with the 69 years you are holding in your hand today. You are most definitely in a good place.
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I too can look back and see how God has steered me. That gives me hope for the future I cannot see. I really liked this, “He informs us that God’s design, all his good plans and purposes for your life and mine, have more to do with maturity than magic, more to do with wisdom than the WOW factor.”
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Let’s keep hanging our hope on that future grace, because we know God has been faithful to us all along the way. I think that is our surest hope when the present doesn’t look the way we pictured it!
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It seems to me that you’ve lived quite an extraordinary life, Michele, because you are quite an extraordinary woman! Love this post.
[I don’t think my previous attempt at commenting went through, but my apologies if this is a duplicate. The comment doesn’t hurt repeating though. Blessings to you, friend.]
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Wow, that’s very encouraging, and your words mean a lot to me.
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