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Articles
God Uses Ordinary People
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say” (Acts 4:13-14).
Peter and John had just been used by God in an astounding miracle, the healing of a man crippled from birth (Acts 3:1-8). They were dragged before the Jewish religious leaders for interrogation, and Peter answered that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ” that the man had been healed (Acts 4:10). As one writer pointed out, “The Jewish priests, scribes, and elders suffered from elitism, believing that only a limited number of people in high positions could be used by the Lord. That elitism continues in the thinking of many religious people to the present day. But God confounded that prejudice. He chose to use those who the snobbish might consider just ordinary, everyday people, such as Peter and John, to do great things for Him.”
Have you ever felt that God couldn’t use you to serve Him because you were just too ordinary? Zig Ziglar has often said that you are not a meaningless generality. God makes you a meaningful specific. He gives meaning to your life. From Genesis to Revelation, the Lord used ordinary people to meet needs and be used as His instruments to bring deliverance, provision, or leadership. This was certainly true of David. Do you remember the time when a giant Philistine was taunting the armies of Israel? Everyone was paralyzed with fear. So whom did God select? He chose a shepherd boy who had been sent by his father to take food to his brothers on the frontlines. He went out to face the giant with a few stones, a sling, and, more importantly, faith in God. That was the person God used.
At another time in Israel's history when they were immobilized by fear because of their enemies, following seven years of cruel oppression by the Midianites, Israel cried out to the Lord God for relief. God found Gideon threshing wheat. He was convinced that God had called the wrong person. But God selected Gideon because he didn't trust in his own ability. Gideon was conscious of his own weakness and the difficult tasks before him; therefore he was an ideal example of how God works deliverance through ordinary people. Gideon trusted in God, and He used Gideon to deliver Israel
Remember that the apostle Paul said, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). All over the world God is using ordinary people to advance His cause. God will use anyone who is willing to advance His Kingdom. The question is, are we ready to let God use us? By following God’s lead, you will be an answer to prayer and used by God to change and save souls.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot
