Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 7 & 8

What can I possibly say about this long genealogical list (besides the fact that I think Uzzi needs to be resurrected as a common name for our children)? Well, I must admit that I had to look a little longer for today’s post. Though the names represented here all have stories and even though I recognize several key players, in an effort to keep my post about this particular passage, I’ve chosen to focus on a man named Ephraim.

Ephraim was a father like any other. He loved his wife and his children and when two of his sons were killed, we are told in 1 Chronicles 7:22 that he mourned for them for many days. Then, in what some may consider TMI, we are told that he made love to his wife and she became pregnant with another son.

Now, there’s nothing spectacular about this episode. This is the kind of thing that happens all the time. People experience tragedy, they suffer and mourn and then, then go on with their lives as best as they can – forever changed, but not defeated. There is nothing special about Ephraim. But for me, that’s kind of the point. Ephraim’s experience is not that different from yours or mine – except that his was written down in the pages of scripture for us to read.

So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that your story could just as easily be written in that book. Your tragedy, your mourning, your recovery and all of the minutia of life is just as important to God as Ehpraim’s life. He didn’t do anything overly spectacular, and yet he’s written about in the most famous book in history.

For you and me, we should take comfort in the fact that God recognizes the ordinary. I can’t speak for you, but I know that I don’t consider myself to be all that special. Sure, I know that God thinks I’m special and I know that I am called to certain things and wired to do certain things, but I feel no sense of superiority or “special-ness”. And yet, these verses remind me that God is interested in the ordinary – he’s even interested in retelling our ordinary stories for his extraordinary purposes.

Who knows, maybe some day somebody will write about you, a person who made it through 123 days of Bible reading!