Ordinary to Extraordinary: How God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary Things

Do you ever wonder whether your life — ordinary as it feels — could actually matter to God?Most of us would not use the word extraordinary to describe ourselves. We are not famous. We are not powerful. We do not have platforms or impressive credentials. We go to work, raise our families, serve our churches, and wonder sometimes whether any of it adds up to something that truly counts.Ordinary to Extraordinary is written for people who feel exactly that way.Drawing from nine largely forgotten figures of Scripture — from both the Old and New Testaments — Pastor Chris McCormick shows that at the most critical moments of God’s redemptive story, the instrument He consistently chooses is not the most obvious one. It is not the most gifted, the most educated, or the most credentialed. It is the one who simply said yes.A craftsman from the wrong tribe. Two midwives with no political power. A foreign court official excluded by law from the assembly of Israel. A church planter from a town the world had already written off. These are the people in this book — and their stories carry a message that may change the way you see your own.Over nine weeks of daily devotions, you will discover three transforming truths:1. God wants to use you. Not a theoretical version of you, but you as you are, where you are, with what you have.2. The standard is faithfulness, not talent or skill. The playing field of faithfulness is perfectly level — it does not advantage the gifted or penalize the ordinary.3. You say the “Yes.” God determines the “When and Where.” None of the people in this book chose their moment. They simply kept saying yes — and when the moment arrived, they were ready.“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” — Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)Dr. Chris Len McCormick is an associate pastor of Calvary Church in Maumee, Ohio. A chemical engineer who spent 34 years in the oil refining industry before answering a full-time ministry calling he has carried since 1991, he holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. He writes from the conviction that God uses ordinary people — because He always has. Read more