August 21, 2016
It is one of the wonders of the world. One of the most unexplainable things in human history. In fact, if you divorce God from the story, it is impossible to explain.
God takes simple men and women and uses them to change history.
Look at a young girl named Esther and her uncle/guardian, Mordecai. Esther was a slave who became the queen of the largest government in the known world.
And we read of Mordecai, who through a sovereign plan of God was raised up to be "second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and the one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation" (Esther 10:3).
FOOLISH THINGS
The Apostle Paul, who was himself such an anomaly, would later remind us under the inspiration of the Spirit why God operates this way.
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 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 1:26-29)
God is unlimited in His ability to change the world through simple men and women. He raises up a Noah to save the world, an orphaned, imprisoned Joseph to do the same; a young shepherd named David to build the greatest empire in history, and then takes a few fishermen and a tax collector and starts the greatest kingdom movement in heaven and earth.
And notice in each case of Divine exalting to usefulness, the purpose is the same: the salvation of people that God loves.
PROFOUND QUESTIONS
Such glorious irony raises a few questions that must be continually answered.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
February 12, 2025
Repentance helps us. Repentance heals us. Repentance restores us and refreshes us. And these are all the outcomes a loving Father desires for His children.