(Faithfulness in the Common Day and the Deep Well of Communion)
June 15th brings the believer into a needed balance: the Christian life is not sustained by occasional moments of spiritual exhilaration, but by the continual operation of divine life in ordinary circumstances. Yet those ordinary days are not empty, for beneath them flows a joy found in communion with Christ himself.
The Power of God in the Common Day
Chambers writes:
“Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.” (My Utmost for His Highest)
Chambers addresses a subtle temptation.
The believer often remembers seasons of unusual clarity, powerful insight, deep emotion, or remarkable answers to prayer. Those moments are precious.
But they are not the measure of spiritual life.
Most of life is lived in ordinary days.
Routine responsibilities.
Repeated duties.
Unremarkable circumstances.
And it is precisely there that the reality of communion is tested and manifested.
The life of the Son was not revealed only in extraordinary moments.
Much of his earthly life unfolded in quiet faithfulness to the Father’s will.
This is important because the believer can easily become attached to spiritual experiences while overlooking the deeper work of God occurring in everyday life.
The Father is not merely preparing us for exceptional moments.
He is forming a life that remains responsive in every moment.
The question is not:
“Am I experiencing something extraordinary?”
The question is:
“Am I remaining responsive to God in what has been placed before me today?”
The ordinary day is often where sonship is most clearly expressed.
Christ as the Deep Sea of Joy
Spurgeon writes:
“The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: my soul shall dive therein, shall be swallowed up in the delights of his society.” (Morning and Evening)
Spurgeon directs attention to the source of joy.
The believer often looks for joy in changing circumstances, favorable outcomes, or uplifting experiences.
But Spurgeon points elsewhere.
Joy is found in Christ himself.
Not merely in what he gives.
Not merely in what he does.
But in communion with him.
The image of a deep sea is fitting.
The riches of Christ cannot be exhausted.
The believer may enter more deeply into communion and continually discover fresh depths of grace, wisdom, peace, and delight.
This joy is not dependent upon whether the day appears exciting or ordinary.
Its source lies deeper than circumstance.
The life discovers that Christ himself is sufficient.
And where communion deepens, joy naturally follows.
Where the Two Meet: Extraordinary Joy in Ordinary Life
These truths belong together beautifully.
Chambers reminds us not to live dependent upon extraordinary experiences. Spurgeon reminds us that the deepest joy is not found in extraordinary experiences anyway.
It is found in Christ.
The believer who learns to live faithfully in ordinary circumstances often discovers that communion becomes richer rather than poorer.
Why?
Because the life ceases seeking God merely through special moments and begins discovering him as the continual source of life itself.
One truth corrects our expectations.
The other redirects our desires.
Together they teach us that the ordinary day is not an interruption of spiritual life.
It is the place where spiritual life is lived.
Pastoral Orientation
June 15th calls for steadiness and delight.
Do not measure God’s presence by the frequency of extraordinary experiences. Learn to recognize his operation in the ordinary course of life.
Do not seek joy merely from changing circumstances. Find your delight in communion with Christ himself.
As you continue walking “after the spirit,” you will find that the common days become filled with greater meaning, and that joy grows deeper as it becomes rooted not in experiences but in the Son.
Be faithful in the ordinary. Delight yourself in Christ.
And you will discover a life that no longer depends upon spiritual excitement for its strength, but is quietly sustained through communion with the Father, while finding in the Son a depth of joy that no circumstance can exhaust.