The supernatural is in the ordinary.

These are not the days of Elijah—sort of.

Every summer is a chance to heal and know God better, and I love it. This is one of my musings from camp, which I have decided to process as I write. I cannot think of a better way to pen it down other than “God said to me, ‘The supernatural is in the ordinary.’” Writing it this way is fundamental to the story, and if you were with us at Chiefwoods Park, at Pishon’s devotion, campfire, or wherever I may have mentioned a God said to me type of clause, you probably remember an expression when I say it. I am not Moses—which honestly is the point.

1.

For most of the beginning of our Christian journey (myself included), we face the important questions: how do I know God is speaking to me? And, more importantly (to us), how can I prove God is calling me to do this or that? I face this, at most, every 15 calendar days, at this point. You (myself included) go to church, and you ask the question or listen to a sermon about it, and they (the older people in the faith) give the same answers, all of which are usually correct, but never take the same form in everybody’s lives. Sometimes they say, "You know, God sent you," or "God is speaking to you," because you feel at peace with the decision; others say the errand or decision is meant to be chaotic, but with a sense of peace in the chaos. Sometimes, the peace which is comfort and fear is flesh, they say. Some say you’ll hear a still small voice within, others say they hear voices in the room—from outside their heads, by the way (I find that very scary, shout out to Mary for not fleeing at the sight of an angel, even). Some, myself included, keep running into the same message everywhere; Prophets, Friends, and Mentors confirm the way for some; some say you find it in the Bible, in the word; others say, you know, when you know (whatever that means).

I’m not a teacher, and I’m not saying anything new, but during my reflection at Volume 3 camp, God highlighted one of the many ways in which he planned to use me, which, as somebody with multiple gifts, is important to me. It sounded like God is in common sense at first, but that failed in some respects because of what came next: The supernatural is in the ordinary. I’ll shed more light.

2.

Anywhere you tap me, I’ll let you know that I did not for one second enjoy the conversation about prenup at camp, so much so that I hauled myself back to my cabin to sleep immediately it began, partly because I was irritated by it, and partly because I was going to sing [ordinary] that night and I needed to rest. For me, naps bring a sobriety that has me deep in thoughts when I wake up, almost like I’m plotting a heist. After that nap on Monday, I returned to find everyone still talking about romantic relationships (an equally dreadful conversation as a prenup), and my ‘too-cool-for-this-conversation’ self [ordinary] went to the bank of the Grand River to reflect with God. At least God will not be talking about ‘when a woman knows…, when a man knows…”

At the bank, hidden behind the bush, I watched the river flow, and then I watched the trees and bushes sway, very ordinary activities to witness. I could not help but think [ordinary]: what if these swaying plants are raising an offering right before my very eyes, and all I can see is just…swaying? What if the river were doing the same? I looked at the plain again, and I thought of Prophet Elisha and his servant in the city of Dothan; the horses and chariots of fire that filled the hills (2 Kings 6:8-23). I imagine a host of angels [ordinary] just standing by the bank, by the trees, above the water, waiting for my worship like the flora and the river. Surely if these mindless living creatures are worshipping [supernaturally] ordinarily and subconsciously, what was my own ordinary and subconscious worship as a living creature before singing a worship or living a life of worship: thinking. My mind was moving, ordinarily, as it ordinarily expected of human beings, but for a life consecrated to God, these thoughts are worship [ordinary].

I stand there and I get the idea [ordinary] to write a prayer for any soul that needed to understand the warfare the song carried  [ordinary]  and then I think there  [ordinary] that maybe the God is in this common sense and then the supernatural is in the ordinary, but the revelation of the second thought revealed that it was not mere common sense, it was revelation from God inhabiting the mind. Better put, the thoughts of God. If this revelation was true, then it meant that I did not get the idea to write a prayer  [ordinary], God told me to [supernatural]; I was not going to sing and pray  [ordinary], I was going to minister [supernatural], even if it’s just one person there that the words, beyond the merriment of the song, recahed, or maybe the person is even yet to hear the song; and that maybe, I didn’t just think it  [ordinary], but God saying to me [supernatural]: “The supernatural is in the ordinary.” 

3.

It was so sweet to receive. Yes, I am not Moses, I will not climb a mountain and see God’s trained latissimus dorsi, or Daniel, that God will write on the wall (hopefully legibly). I am myself, and these are not the days of Elijah, these are genuinely the days of me, you and some random on your street right now. This is hearing God in our days. It doesn't mean that God doesn’t still speak in those ways, but if your life feels so ordinary as a Christian, it probably isn’t. There are so many things happening every day that look so ordinary, yet God, or not-God even, is in it. And if God lives in us, then there’s nothing ordinary about us. If you haven’t yet sensed or experienced it, you must know it still.

In the middle of the ministration [supernatural] at camp, I choked and laughed, and I was just like, " Hm, I hope God is in this laugh of victory, and it will minister to someone.” 

Do those ordinary-looking things today, God is in them because God is in you. It is what differentiates us from the world. Show someone the direction to a location today, pick up the trash, say sorry when you bump into them, you don’t know who’s waiting on that last proof of goodness in humanity to believe that there is a God. Your twist, and the advantage, from a regular kind person, is that you are consciously and intentionally sent by God. You are a minister every day, your ordinary is supernatural, inspired and backed by God. 

PS: For this message to slap like sour garri, we probably have to seek God and die to self daily to grow from just knowing that our ordinary is supernatural to walking in the intention.

Don't go and bite somebody's ear and say it's God-inspired. I wasn't there o.

To the author [creator] and finisher [caretaker, sustainer] of our faith.

Victor.