God Uses Ordinary People Like You
God uses ordinary people to change the world. I’ll be honest, some days my self-absorbed heart doesn’t enact any of God’s plans. God must factor that in when ordinary people accomplish extraordinary ventures. You and I think we’re too this or that to be of any use. Well, He thinks otherwise.
Did you survive abuse, stuttering, deny Jesus as Peter did, or think only of your limitations? God knows all the excuses and doesn’t mind. We’re far from perfect. It seems to me, that the more incomplete we are, the better our chances to succeed.
Review this list of people God used in the Bible.
God Uses Ordinary People: The Unqualified
Jesus’ ministry team is an unlikely band of followers. Everyone loves Peter because he’s so real—unpretentious and ready to take on the world. His mouth gets him into trouble but Jesus sees his leadership qualities and knows Peter actually loves Him.
Thomas has the reputation for being an honest-to-goodness doubter, yet He asks questions, rather than come off as a fake. John knew that Jesus loved him and graced the world by writing at least five books. He’s the only one who didn’t abandon Jesus. Andrew simply drops his fishing nets to follow Jesus.
James the Greater (the first disciple martyred for his faith) and Matthew are members of the top echelon supporting Jesus. Philip, Nathanael, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, and James the Less stay in the background. Jesus makes them His closest confidants.
Of course, the world always remembers Judas. He betrays his Master. Think of the miracles he witnessed and knowledge gained from listening to Jesus preach. He pretends to be a loyal member of the team. Jesus knows his heart from the beginning.
None of the disciples are scholars or rabbis, and rather ordinary. This small group of believers change the world by delivering the message of the Gospel. So much so that today there are over 2 billion Christians worldwide. God uses people to save others.
God Uses Ordinary People: Samson
A known womanizer, Sampson vows to honor God and save Israel from the Philistines. He seeks a wife from the Philistine nation. His knack for choosing the wrong woman plagues his life and becomes the nemesis for impending destruction.
Even though he gives in to his weaknesses, God uses him to kill 3,000+ men and women including Philistine rulers. He completes God’s will for him—to weaken the Philistine nation. Samson’s last prayer is to call on God for help and restore fellowship with his maker. God uses broken people.
God Uses Ordinary People: Jeremiah
Jeremiah, one of the major prophets, never wants to preach. He is too young (so he thinks), and afraid to look at people’s faces. God has a solution and a decree.
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ For you shall go everywhere that I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Now, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:7-10).
Jeremiah’s family of priests trained him for a king-size job—to change hearts. He ministers the word of God to five kings revealing the sins of people while preaching repentance and healing.
He points out why people break their covenant with God and the consequences of doing so. Jeremiah brings words of hope and prophesies the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple.
God Uses Ordinary People: Noah
Evil overtakes the earth. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:7-8).
God sees Noah as a righteous man and commands him to build an ark. According to Genesis 5:32, at that time Noah was 500 years old and father to three children. He was 600 years old when God flooded the earth, so it took Noah roughly 100 years to build the boat. That’s quite a task that requires dogged determination.
After the flood, Noah plants a vineyard, gets drunk, and passes out. Whoops. Everyone is surprised since Noah is a patriarch of high regard. In ancient Israel, to see your parents naked was a moral no-no, especially for someone of Noah’s social standing. Even so, God uses ordinary people like Noah, with faults and all, to accomplish great things.
God Uses Broken People
These people God used all have issues, just like us. Could God use a prostitute? Yes, He uses Rahab. How about an adulterer and murderer? Yes, King David did both. Jonah runs from God and eventually leads a nation to repent. Ruth, a widow, becomes the great-grandmother of Jesus by marrying Boaz. John the Baptist eats locusts and ushers in the ministry of Jesus.
Humanity has flaws! We’re constructed from the same cloth, so to speak, as our Biblical ancestors. Are we much different than them? Has God asked you to do something outside of your comfort zone or perhaps you feel too ordinary for Him to consider you?
I’m convinced God uses ordinary people like me for His kingdom. How about you? What job does he want you to accomplish? When God uses you as a vessel, He pours Himself into you for another’s benefit. But He always blesses you the most and turns you into an extraordinary disciple to reach people for Christ.