Chasing the Ordinary Life

I shiver on the sidelines of an early morning soccer match. Sporting fleece-lined jeans, my trusty winter jacket, and a stocking hat, I’m only just staying warm enough to watch my son’s game.

The coach calls my son off the bench to sub in. I overhear the plan to send him on to replace a midfielder, a position geared to assist with both offense and defense. Joy spreads across my boy’s face and his back straightens. Despite being the top scorer on his recreational soccer team this past fall, since landing on the winter soccer team he’s only played defense.

A defensive player from our team gets knocked down. The game pauses and the coach walks over to help the player off the field. The teammate is fine but needs a break. The coach tells my son to go in for the defensive player instead. My heart sinks along with my son’s chance to play offense today.

While I’m a big fan of defensive players, my son is less so. Most of us couldn’t name one outstanding center-back but can recognize the names of the top strikers in the world of soccer.

After the game my son remarks, “Everyone else on the team got to play offense, except me.” He’s not wrong.

Our desire to be the best, or at least occupy an advantageous position, is strong. We don’t like to feel overlooked or limited in our options. Our culture encourages us to strive for greatness—to be the fastest, smartest, or most talented at something. And whether it’s myself or my kids, reconciling this pull with the reality of being ordinary feels like whiplash.

Unpacking The Ordinary

If we were asked which biblical character we’d most like to be, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, would probably not top our list. His role feels small, insignificant, and forgettable.

He’s so ordinary.

His life falls into the cracks of what seems mundane and unremarkable. And he certainly wouldn’t be an offensive starter on a soccer team. On the surface, Joseph’s part in the life of Jesus seems tiny and fleeting, but when we step back and consider the role of Jesus's earthly father over the years, another perspective emerges. And we can learn a key lesson from the life of Joseph and the truth about seemingly ordinary roles.

The bulk of what we know about Joseph centers around Jesus’s birth. But the majority of the time Joseph spends with Jesus doesn’t make it onto the pages of Scripture.

The Creator himself stepped into humanity and walked among us. He experienced the everyday moments this life presents. God saw fit for Jesus to be raised by an ordinary man. A man who worked hard to provide for his family. Joseph remained dedicated to serving the Lord like previous generations. He took Jesus to the traditional religious celebrations and participated in the spiritual rhythms of the Jewish community. Jesus grew up in a normal Jewish family, eating the same foods as everyone else. And this is precisely how the Lord wanted Jesus’s childhood to look.

Joseph wasn’t called to heal the blind or cast out demons. He was called to parent Jesus but didn’t receive the title of father. Instead, he’s described as “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born” (Matt. 1:16). In Joseph’s willingness to live a normal life outside the spotlight, we catch a glimpse of God’s heart. He valued Joseph’s run-of-the-mill days. And perhaps this is what we most need to learn from this godly carpenter: ordinary matters to God.

Resisting The Ordinary

While I may initially wrinkle my nose at the thought of being ordinary and living a regular life, Joseph’s life challenges this view. Joseph was likely a good carpenter who passed along his skills to Jesus. But was he the best carpenter ever? Probably not. And that was a good thing because it allowed time and space to live a normal life—a life free from the pressures to perform with the margin to experience meaningful blessings from God.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to grow our skills, improve, or dream. God created us to work and lean into the abilities he’s given us for his glory, our good, and the good of others (Gen. 2:15; Eph. 2:10). Becoming good at something or working toward a goal requires a solid work ethic. Yet, everything about Joseph’s involvement in the story of Jesus keeps Jesus central. Nothing about his actions detracts from the life of Jesus. Instead, all Joseph does is for Jesus, not himself.

Hope placed in anything outside of Christ is misplaced.

Embracing The Ordinary

The desire for my son to play an offensive soccer role revealed a deeper issue in my heart—the war against the ordinary. Serving as a taxi for kids to and from school and sports doesn’t feel valuable. Fixing a broken kitchen stool doesn’t appear like the best use of time even though it keeps us from having to replace it. The different ways I minister within my local church can seem fleeting.

Matthew 6:21 reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Whether or not I recognize it, I can easily treasure things that won’t last. Chasing greatness—for myself or my kids—is exhausting, discouraging, and fleeting. But we can realign our skewed perspectives. What we deem insignificant and small, the Lord may view through an entirely different lens.

Joseph’s role was never to make much of himself, just Jesus. And this is the same role we all have—to accept the invitation of everyday faithfulness.

In an effort to lean into the ordinary, I’m returning to daily journaling and personal worship liturgies. Both practices slow my pace, force me to bring God’s Word and presence into my everyday moments, and fix my gaze on Jesus.

When I stop striving to make a name for myself or prove I’m awesome, I’m free to rest in Christ and walk in contentment. The floodgates of gratitude and joy open wide. I can glimpse how the rhythms of my days connect to eternity.

The beauty of everyday faithfulness sparkles. Living an ordinary life reaps rewards. The world may not recognize it as such, but Joseph’s life is a shining example of this truth.

I can marvel at the incredible blessing of watching my elementary-aged boys grow into who God has created them to be—even as I taxi them around town and answer questions on the road about whether you can buy church membership.

I can fix a kitchen stool, call the plumber to repair a leaky bathroom sink, and invest in the upkeep of never-ending yard work because God placed me here as a steward of my home. These tasks aren’t taking me away from something better. They’re training me to be a faithful steward for the Lord.

I can delight in how God opened doors within my local church to point families to his desire for all people to know and worship him, even if few outside this county know about and benefit from the hours invested in these projects.

This run-of-the-mill life is a gift from God.

Chasing The Ordinary

Our purpose isn’t to make a name for ourselves in the world or prove we’re the best at something. Our primary purpose in life is to glorify the Lord—to delight in him and make his great name known to all.

Prestige, titles, soccer positions, and success won’t last or ultimately satisfy our souls. But training our hearts to treasure Jesus above all else will produce lasting fruit.

When the coach plays my son in a defensive position, I can rejoice that my son gets to do something he loves—play soccer—even if he never gets a single minute as a midfielder or striker.

Similarly, we can chase after an ordinary life because it doesn’t weigh us down with unrealistic expectations. Instead, it rewards us with unshakeable joy no matter our circumstances and encourages us to trust in God’s perfect timing and ways. It directs our gaze from fleeting trinkets to the greatest and lasting treasure of all—Jesus.