Today is just an ordinary day, and that’s appropriate because by the reckoning of the liturgical calendar, we are in Ordinary Time—the long stretch between Pentecost in the spring and the first Sunday of Advent. Ordinary, however, need not mean tedious, especially for the believer in Christ. God has profound lessons and innumerable blessings to bring us joy even on an ordinary, uneventful day.
Joy is the gift that surprises. It heightens our appreciation of all things beautiful. In her Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson has put beautiful words expressing this joy in the mouth of Pastor John Ames:
It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and turns it to radiance—for a moment or a year or the span of a life.”
When the glory of autumn has fallen to the ground, the world can seem like a “poor gray ember,” and it takes a sinewy commitment to gratitude, it requires tender reflection on the workings of grace to claim resolute joy on an ordinary day.
It requires tender reflection on the workings of grace to claim resolute joy on an ordinary day.
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Go to the Well
Scripture comes to our rescue, for in the Bible, the words joy, rejoice, or joyful appear around 430 times in the English Standard Version! If we commit ourselves to chasing joy where joy is promised, we bring our definition of joy (and our expectations) into alignment with eternal truth:
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:10-11)
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
(Romans 15:13)
With around 427 more verses to choose from, I invite you to go to the well.
On this ordinary day, don’t run from amazement.
Let your mind be aghast:
“Look at those birds in flight! My goodness, how do they move as one?”
“How wonderful that my fingers can grasp a pen and make markings intelligible to another human!”
“This coffee tastes just as good as it smells!”
“That rectangle of light on my kitchen floor travelled 93 million miles before it shone through this window.”
Let your heart internalize the reality that joy is worth fighting for because it illuminates the ordinary.
Joy today, right now, in the midst of this ordinary day on the calendar, prepares us for the future consummation of eternal joy.
Holding You in the Light,
Joy is worth fighting for because it illuminates the ordinary. Joy today, right now, in the midst of this ordinary day on the calendar, prepares us for the future consummation of eternal joy.
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Living Our Days 
I too love how at different times God turns on the radiance. Some are so heartfelt with a beautiful, silent snowfall on a winter’s night or this glorious amber and gold falling leaves season. He is an amazing artist. Happy week ahead to you and yours.
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“God turns on the radiance”
Wow, he sure does!
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Loving the ordinary days ~ Rosie
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They are INDEED a great gift!
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They are INDEED a great gift!
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What a delight it is to find joy in little wonders and blessings in our “ordinary” days! If God is faithful enough to give me a pretty sky, glimpses of birds and flowers, yummy food, and similar little gifts each and every day, I can trust that he has many more blessings in store for each day ahead. And yes, that does give me hope!
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I’m nodding my head to all this as I give thanks for the views of falling leaves outside my window! God is so generous.
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Yes, let joy illuminate the ordinary! Life is a precious gift!
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Let’s never take the gift of an ordinary day for granted!
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Thanks so much for the wonderful invitation to “go to the well” … so many things bring us joy if we only take a minute to think about it!
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It’s sad to realize how many people look for joy where it can’t be found. So grateful for the Word of God that sends us to the Well.
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What a WONDERFUL post, Michele! SO many insights to digest! A study of all 430 mentions of joy would surely open our eyes to avenues of joy worthy of further exploration. No doubt we’d also be reminded how misdirected we can be in our understanding of what produces lasting joy. (It’s not the next desired purchase; it’s not the next fun event!) I also love your short list of ordinary day “amazements.” You’ve inspired me to watch for them myself–a new direction for my gratitude journal, at least on some days! Thank you, my friend!
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Thank you for your enthusiastic response, and I think I’m going to join you in recording “amazements” for the month of November.
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I didn’t realize there were that many references to Joy in the bible … I found it amazing that it talks about fear (or fretting) 365 times, so I love that the bible talks about joy more often that fear. I’m definitely going to start studying on joy.
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Isn’t that just a solid reinforcement for where our hearts should land every day?!
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Michele – I have been on a quest to find God’s kind of joy – and how to live in it. It’s like I’ve been following a treasure map He created for me to follow – and about six weeks ago, He unlocked the answer to what I’ve been searching for. Your post speaks to that – and with your wordsmithing, the pictures you paint – oh, how your post has warmed my soul to read. Those birds aligning so perfectly bring joy because we’re watching them with Him, receiving them as the gift He intended. Without Him invited to enjoy it with us, there wouldn’t be that joy. What a beautiful hallelujah post!
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“We’re watching them with Him…”
That’s what makes all the difference!
I’m hearing Gerard Manley Hopkins poem shining through your words:
“The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil…”
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What a delightful invitation to go to the well. Thanks for this. I’ve been trying to rekindle wonder and a light heart, and to practice joy. Not that I’m unhappy or don’t have joy, but there’s been a loss of sparkle that needs refreshing. Yesterday I may have come close to having a car accident as my attention was hijacked by a flock of birds performing above the road. They looked more like a school of fish than any flock of birds I’d ever seen. It was magnificent. God’s work is so good.
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Yes, God has built plenty of sparkle into his creation, but it’s up to us to notice. He is so good.
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