Have you ever felt inferior or insignificant? Have you ever felt as though your life or presence does not matter? Have you ever felt as if God cannot use you? Well, many people feel that way, but the good news is – you are special and you are significant to God. God can use you. God can use anyone who avails him or herself to Him. God has a purpose for each and every one of us. God is more interested in our availability than our ability.
It is amazing to consider what attributes mankind associates with success and stature: charisma, wealth, prosperity, physical strength, external beauty, vocational placement and societal connections. But such lifestyle characteristics communicate very little about a person’s inner disposition or temperament. And they say virtually nothing about one’s hopes, dreams, priorities or the state of the heart. God, on the other hand, looks at the hearts of individuals when he makes his choice to use them. God can use people with or without the natural ability and proper background.
God can, and often chooses to, work with raw material. God prepares and empowers those He chooses to do His work. 1 Corinthians 1: 26 – 27 states that “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” The disciples, who went on to be founding leaders of the church, were fishermen and tax-collectors by trade. They were not highly educated or from influential families. Some had strong, driven personalities but others did not.
You see, God places us on earth and in certain places and situations – and puts us in certain positions for a reason. Sometimes, we have no clue why we are in those situations. Other times, we can take a guess based on how God has helped in situations prior. But the truth of the matter is that God is with us no matter what, so we have no reason to be afraid. It is evident in Scripture that God does place people in certain situations or positions to enact His Will. God does not need one bit of our natural wisdom, our noble birth, or our influential positions, to accomplish His work. If it were otherwise, then we might be tempted to boast that our own abilities were at least part of the source of our success. One only has to study the lives of people in the Bible and see how God worked in the lives of ordinary people to fulfil his divine plan.
Here are a few of those people:
1. Esther. Esther was an orphaned child adopted and raised by her older cousin Mordecai. Xerxes hosted a royal beauty pageant and Esther was chosen for the throne. Her cousin, Mordecai, became a minor official in the Persian government of Susa. Soon after, Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. He told Esther about the conspiracy, and she reported it to Xerxes, giving credit to Mordecai. The plot was thwarted and Mordecai’s act of kindness was preserved in the chronicles of the king. At this same time, the king’s highest official was a wicked man named Haman. He hated the Jews and he especially hated Mordecai who had refused to bow down to him. So, Haman devised a scheme to have every Jew in Persia killed. The king bought into the plot and agreed to annihilate the Jewish people on a specific day. Meanwhile, Mordecai learned of the plan and shared it with Esther, challenging her to do something about it, which she did.
Esther urged all of the Jews to fast and pray for deliverance. Then risking her own life, brave young Esther approached the king with a plan. She invited Xerxes and Haman to a banquet where, eventually, she revealed her Jewish heritage to the king, as well as Haman’s diabolical plot to have her and her people killed. In a rage, the king ordered Haman to be hung on the gallows – the very same gallows Haman had built for Mordecai. Mordecai was promoted to Haman’s high position and Jews were granted protection throughout the land.
2. Peter. Another ordinary person was the fisherman, Peter. He was called to apostolic ministry. He came from humble birth and employment. Acts 5:15 -16 tells us that the presence and anointing of God in his ministry was such that people got healed as Peter’s shadow passed over them. God can take men and women from the humblest of circumstances, can put His power and Spirit in them, and can make them capable of mighty demonstrations of His Spirit and Power.
3. David. David was a young shepherd boy raised in a farming community with very common people. His family was what appeared to be a typical family in Israel. Shepherding was a common occupation. The thing that brought David’s success in life was not his social status or his occupation or his family background. His success was found in his intense love for God and his humble spirit. David did great exploits for God. David went from being a lowly shepherd to Israel’s greatest king.
4. Gideon. Gideon was born in an average family for his day. He was not born into a genealogy of royalty, or even of prophets. He was not born wealthy, or into an enviable social position. Making him feel even less capable for the task that God would assign him, was the fact that he was the youngest in his family. In spite of all that was against him, Gideon was the man that God desired to use to deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. As Gideon was working in the field, one day, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel first called Gideon a “mighty man of valour.” Gideon quickly told the angel all the reasons why he was not a mighty man. God knew that already. He doesn’t seek the strong and powerful or persuasive of speech. He calls the least in the eyes of the world so that He is most glorified. Don’t ever think that God counts potential with size or strength. God looks at the heart. Gideon’s 300 men, composed of farmers and shepherds, took out 135,000 experienced, battled-tested Midianite soldiers. Because Gideon was obedient, God brought the victory. Gideon’s humility may have been one reason why God chose him for this very special task. To accomplish His purpose, God uses ordinary people who obey Him.
You see my friends; ordinary people will face trials as well. Trials are the normal experience of God’s people, even when they are right where God wants them to be. Somehow we have picked up the notion that if God has called us to a place, or to do a certain task for him, we would not encounter any problems. Everything will be smooth and easy. When the road gets rough, we often wonder what is wrong, or we even question – “Maybe I’m not in God’s will.” But that is not the truth, my friends. God has us exactly where he wants us. We just need to trust him. Trials are the ordinary lot of God’s people. Our Sovereign God has always used trials, even with His servants who are in the center of His will, to drive us to greater dependence on Him.
Remember: God uses ordinary people just like you and me. God specializes in using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
About the Author: Mrs. Marilyn Hodge owns and operates the Wellness Centre in the Farrington, Anguilla. The Centre offers Counselling Services by Appointment Only and has now published Positive Living Volume 2. Contact information: 476-3517 or email: marilynb@anguillanet.com. www.facebook.com/axawellnesscentre
