THE UNCOMMON LIFE
[7-minute read]
MENTION UNCOMMON LIVES and we think of Jackie Pullingerwhoanswered God’s call to set sail for the East in the 60s and spent decades serving addicts and the marginalised in Hong Kong’s Walled City. We think of missionaries in Ecuador, Jim and Elizabeth Elliot (as penned by their only child, Vallerie Elliot Shephard). We think of Jemima Ooi who left a comfortable life in Singapore to serve in conflict active areas of East Africa.
They all have one story – making personal sacrifices to advance Kingdom mission. Yet, when it comes down to what they actually did, it is as simple as making God real in the ordinary moments of life in ordinary interactions with people. They are the evidence that the Book of Acts recounts on the power of the Holy Spirit in a certain upper room that decisively changed the life trajectory of the first disciples, and is still alive today.
What does that look like in our own lives today? How are we allowing God to equip and position us to live for Him? Think about stepping out of self-protective ‘safe’ bubbles to touch another life – uninvited. It certainly involves taking risks and breaking away from what looks normative and putting ourselves out there, willing to be uncomfortable with not knowing what’s the next step. FOMO, instead of being a fear that we could be missing out on lifestyle experiences, becomes an all-encompassing desire to not miss out on God's will and purpose for our lives.
The apostle Paul left all followers with this charge, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2).
So, the question is: what does an uncommon life look like for ordinary people like us?
A LIFE OF GRATITUDE
If we are truly honest, our prayers are often presented to God as a binary choice of either yes or no. We want to skip past occasions and seasons when He would say But wait… let me show you whatyou’re missing here. We are less interested in the revisions, shifts, corrections and improvements He wants to show us. We take being blessed too literally as an entitlement for self-gratification. The world’s system rewards this attitude through consumerism, social media validation, and cultural norms that prioritize instant pleasure over delayed benefits and character development. The enemy of our soul encourages it even among believers in the church.
We support people who tell us, I’m tied down with existing personal priorities… and I’ve no time to care about … Instead of talking about living with gratitude, we only talk about how much we can do. We replace attitude with performance, assuming that ministry activity comes with the right heart. In fact, those with the right attitude will always inspire change and progress because they are not content with putting in only minimum effort.
What can we be constantly grateful to God for? We were spiritually dead in our sins and ignorance, yet He offered eternal life to us. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.”
Because God’s love never ends, our gratitude, too, never ends.
A LIFE OF SURRENDER
When we celebrate a birthday, most of the time we are simply marking the natural progression of age. What else are we really celebrating? Few would celebrate having put to death any undesirable traits that hold us back from loving others fully. “For if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13 NASB).
When we surrender to God, we are in for a life of surprises! Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.". The life of surrender promises adventures with God you would never imagine. But it requires relooking at and evaluating our original intentions. It calls for a conscious alignment of our thinking with God’s thinking and the recognition of the supremacy of God’s ways. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.” (Isaiah 55:8-9). What we think are noble and justifiable as a way of life must come under the scrutiny of His Word. When we echo the obedience of Jesus to His Father, not my will but Yours be done, we must follow it up with action (Luke 22:42).
Surrender to God confronts any resistance to change course. It exposes hidden sins and leads us to healing and a better quality of life and relationships. It produces the fruit of the Spirit we get to enjoy with each other.
Surrendered lives look markedly different from self-controlled lives. One is filled with opportunities and an inspiration for others, and the other is limited to personal achievements and rigid routines. A surrendered life effectively shapes the next generation not with words but with the evidence of choices that redefine cultural moulds of what is normative and expected.
The commitment to an uncommon life with God is not a one-time decision but involves developing a posture of surrender, yielded to God daily.
To surrender means we constantly put to death pride, so that humility comes alive in us. We put to death self-sufficiency (the idea that we don’t need anyone) and learn that we will have more than we ask or imagine possible when we submit ourselves to accountable relationships in the body of Christ. We put to death self-serving ambitions and let God’s mission come alive in our everyday life. We put to death our past experiences and worries about the present by submitting to God’s counsel and direction and accepting that they are superior to human thinking. This does not mean we don’t do our part in preparation and planning but we proceed on His counsel and advice.
The question today: is there something you need to surrender to the Lord?
A LIFE OF TRANSFORMATION
Transformation here does not refer to mere behaviour modifiation but a commitment to change and evolve through the seasons of life with God.
Many retirees spend this precious season of their lives satisfied with leisure and small wins. Because they are done investing their time in economic labour, they throw up their hands and give up on pursuing new ambitions with God. What a waste!
The Word of God warns us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed…”. What if we can rewrite what retirement amd later life means? What if we stop buying into mainstream messaging and cultural ideologies of what the different seasons of life look like? We subscribe to prevailing culture without any struggle and fall into the trap of thinking that if there is no struggle, it must be right. On the other hand, people of any age who habitually pursue purposeful living with God do not stop to take a break. Purpose is not about performance but finding meaning in what we do.
1 John 2:15-17 (NLT) is a sobre warning for us: 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
What a great reason for celebrating life!
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 11 April 2026.
