1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV- But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God
chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
God often does or
allows circumstances that make absolutely no sense to the human mind. He usually
uses the most unlikely person for His own purposes. Sometimes we can feel
unworthy of God’s love, His provision, and His Hand on our lives. In fact, we
may look at others and ask why God would ever use that person in ministry. We
may think they don’t have what it takes or they are not worthy of a high
calling from God. On the contrary, God does not see people as we do. “…For the Lord sees not as man sees:
man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”
(1Samuel 16:7).
Only God knows the heart of a
person. He sees when no one else does. He sees when you submit to Him in obedience
while everyone else is doing his or her own thing. He sees you worshipping on
your lunch break. He sees when you cry alone but praise Him in faith. God sees
our hearts. He sees in secret. The Bible says in Matthew 6:4 that, “…your Father who sees in
secret will Himself reward you openly.”
God knew us before the
foundations of the earth. He already had a plan for us before we even thought
of stepping into the doors of the church. He knew who we would be once He captured
our hearts. Look at the disciples He
chose to work with Him in ministry. He was around these people every day. These
were his friends. Matthew, who was a tax collector walked with God. A tax
collector was a shameful profession in biblical times. They would take
advantage of the people by taking what they had unjustly. However, with no hesitation,
Jesus desired to use Him greatly. Peter, who was hot-tempered and denied Jesus
three times was used to perform miracles and preach to the Good News. Saul
later known as Paul was well known for killing, beating, and torturing
Christians. But without Paul, we wouldn’t have almost half of the New Testament.
Lastly look whom God chose to be the parents of Jesus Christ. They were young
and underprivileged, but obedient to God. I can go on and on about the people
that God used in the Bible to accomplish great things. He has always done this
and will continue to use people that we don’t think are “worthy.”
You may not feel worthy of the
calling that God has placed on your heart but you are worthy in Christ Jesus. Jesus
has made us worthy of any call by God. You may have been a drug addict but God
is calling you. You may have slept with more people than you’d care to admit,
but God is calling you. You may drink more alcohol than you eat food but God is
still calling you. The guy dealing drugs on the corner can be used to save
thousands of souls one day. The prophetess that you see today could have been
the young lady that slept around the neighborhood yesterday. God can pour out
His Spirit on anyone at anytime. Peter in Acts 10:34 said, "I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” He can use the man
that went to Harvard and the man that never graduated high school to do the
same job.
The bottom line is don’t
be discouraged because of your background or where you came from. Don’t disqualify
yourself by thinking that your past has anything to do with your future. He uses
the most unlikely person to show His power and His strength. It is His glory
that will be revealed in you. This is done so that others may know and believe that
He is the Living God.
1 Corinthians 1:27, MSG -Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got
called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among
you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it
obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks
and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow
pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can
get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking
and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of
Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn,
blow a trumpet for God.”