Friday Read: Ordinary Time Continues
We're still in Ordinary Time - that long stretch of the church calendar between Pentecost (May 24 this year) and Advent (beginning November 29). Twenty-eight weeks of green vestments, numbered Sundays, steady rhythm without major festivals. For many Christians, this feels spiritually dull. Where's the drama of Holy Week? Where's the celebration of Easter? Where's the intensity of Advent anticipation?
But September offers something valuable that dramatic seasons can't provide - the opportunity to develop faithfulness in ordinary circumstances. Anyone can be spiritual during Easter Sunday. The question is whether you can maintain spiritual vitality on an ordinary Tuesday in September when nothing spectacular is happening.
Consider the Israelites in the wilderness. The exodus from Egypt was dramatic - plagues, Red Sea crossing, pillar of fire, Mount Sinai encounter. But then came forty years of wilderness wandering. Same manna every morning. Same routine every day. Same cloud leading, same ark following. Nothing dramatic, nothing new. Just ordinary faithfulness day after ordinary day.
Many Israelites couldn't handle it. They complained about the monotony, romanticized Egypt's variety (conveniently forgetting slavery), and demanded spectacle. Their inability to remain faithful in ordinary circumstances disqualified them from entering the promise. Not because God rejected them but because they couldn't persist through the unremarkable middle to reach the destination.
Hebrews reflects on this: "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:12-13). The danger isn't dramatic apostasy but gradual drift during ordinary time.
September's ordinariness reveals what Easter celebration might hide - whether your faith depends on emotional experiences or rests on something deeper. Can you worship God when worship doesn't produce feelings? Can you trust him when nothing confirms you're on the right path? Can you obey when obedience offers no immediate payoff? Can you serve when service feels repetitive and unappreciated?
Jesus spent thirty years in Nazareth before three years of public ministry. Ninety percent of his earthly life was ordinary - carpentry, family responsibilities, community participation, daily prayer. Those decades weren't wasted preparation for his "real" work. They were demonstration that ordinary work done faithfully matters, that daily obedience in obscurity shapes character for moments of crisis.
Paul told the Thessalonians: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). This is remarkably unspectacular advice. Lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your hands. Show up daily and be reliable.
Contemporary Christian culture often devalues this. We celebrate dramatic conversions, spectacular ministries, influential platforms, and impressive achievements. We treat ordinary faithfulness as less valuable than extraordinary accomplishments. But most of Christian life is ordinary - going to work, raising children, maintaining relationships, serving your local church, paying bills, keeping commitments.
What sustains faithfulness in Ordinary Time? Not feelings - those fade. Not visible progress - that might not come for years. Not immediate results - those aren't guaranteed. What sustains faithfulness is trust in God's character. He's working even when you can't see it. He's present even when you don't feel it. He's faithful even when circumstances suggest otherwise.
This September, resist the temptation to treat ordinary days as time to get through until something spectacular happens. These ordinary weeks are formation time. The daily choices you make now - whether to pray when you don't feel like it, read Scripture when it seems boring, serve when nobody notices, trust when nothing makes sense - these create the foundation for everything else.
The spectacular moments test what you've built. The ordinary moments build what gets tested. Don't despise September's ordinariness. Embrace it. This is where you become who God is calling you to be - through faithful repetition, patient persistence, and daily obedience when nobody's watching and nothing feels special.
