8 & 9 August 2026 (Pastoral Page) PRACTISING GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR “SEASON OF THE ORDINARY”

by Dn Deborah Lim

On Saturdays, I use the ‘Pray As You Go’ app (a recommended tool in the ‘Grip Test & Toolboxes - Prayerfulness’ section of our church website), for a day of examen. Through music and Scripture, I am guided along to recall how I walked with God during the week. The vast majority of my life is spent with my family, my elderly mother, my dog, turtle, fish and plants! Much time is consumed by meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking. And then there is the never-ending cycle of laundry. My day-to-day life is domestic and ordinary.

Was God in the most boring bits of your past week? In ‘Liturgy of the Ordinary’, Tish Harrison Warren writes, “The new life into which we are baptized is lived out in days, hours, and minutes. God is forming us into a new people. And the place of that formation is in the small moments of today.^[1]” She urges us to live each day in the light of a future reality, rather than ignoring God in the grind.

At the recent Young Adults retreat, we studied the book of James and the words “Elijah was a man, just as we are” struck me. The ministry of Elijah is recorded for us in 1 Kings 17 - 2 Kings 2. ‘Elijah grew up in obscurity (like many of us), yet God chose him out of obscurity in order to confront apostasy publicly’^[2]. While the Bible records only about seven miracles during Elijah’s 15-35 years of ministry, he is much revered as a prophet. Have you ever wondered what Elijah was doing in the in-between time? I imagine that when Elijah wasn’t multiplying the flour and oil in jars, raising the widow’s son from the dead, or challenging the false prophets of Baal, he was living a fairly mundane life!

God made Elijah rest when he felt fatigue, fear and discouragement. God reassured His servant that he was not alone but that He had reserved seven thousand faithful ones in Israel. Perhaps this is why James said that Elijah was a man, vulnerable, just as we are. However, James went on to add that “Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:17-18). If Elijah was a human being, just as we are, then it would be possible to seek to be like him! We should emulate Elijah’s prayer life. God chose Elijah to perform those miracles recorded in the Bible because Elijah was a man of prayer and walked closely with God not just during those extraordinary times but also in the ordinary moments.

If you recall Yeng Wai’s sermon last week, he shared that ‘Ordinary Time’ is the longest liturgical season in the Christian year, encompassing 33-34 weeks. It falls outside the major seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. It is seen as a season for growth and daily discipleship. God saw my struggle to remain faithful in my repetitive chores and He prompted two friends to share Colossians 3:23-24 with me, on the same day! “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”

If you are also struggling in this season of ordinary time, bring it honestly before God. He may not bring ravens to feed you like He did for Elijah, but He will certainly surprise you in other ways. Recently, while walking my dog, a frail man asked for directions to the hospital. Walking with him allowed for a long chat where I could share that Jesus loves him. God gave me an opportunity to share His love in the midst of an ordinary morning.

Dear fellow ordinary pilgrim, do not despise your “day of small things” or waste away your season of the ordinary, whatever that may look like for you. Invite God into those spaces and talk to Him unceasingly. God can use you to fill the emotionally-empty jars of a friend, breathe life into someone spiritually dead or even challenge wrong ideas in your sphere of influence. May God use our ‘everydayness’ to form us!

^[1] Tish H Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary (InterVarsity Press, 2016), 21.

^[2] Merida, T. (2013, June 4). Learning from an Insane Prayer Life. Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/learning-from-an-insane-prayer-life