GOD’S EXTRAORDINARY USE OF THE ORDINARY

1) You are Ordinary.

There is nothing unique about you. You were born the same way everyone else was. You put your pants on the same way everyone else does. No sin or temptation has seized you except what is common to man. We've been sold a lie: the relentless pursuit of being "special." We're bombarded with messages telling us we need to be unique, exceptional, one-of-a-kind. Fueled by countless books and programs, this relentless chase for self-esteem ironically disconnects us from something far more meaningful: a connection to something greater than ourselves.

Perhaps the greatest impediment to experiencing God's grace is this very need to feel exceptional. What we need to develop is Christ-esteem, not more self-esteem.

Paul understood this when he said, “... I am less than the least of all God's people, (yet) this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ” (Ephesians 3:8 NIV). The sooner we learn that we are not unique, the freer we will be to be used by God. We must learn that we are not unique but our calling is.

2) God is Extraordinary.

God uses sticks and arrows, slingshots & harps, stones and swords, whales and

donkeys, fishermen and thieves, tax collectors and prostitutes, housewives and businessmen. He is the extraordinary one, we are not. The key to being used by God is the fact that ordinary people are used by an extraordinary God. This is so that no one will think they have the power in themselves to do anything. It is by His grace and power that anything for the Kingdom is accomplished. Don’t let yourself be deceived, He is the exceptional one, not you. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Moses, Joshua, Gideon, the Judges, Samson, Elijah, Isaiah, David, and all the rest were flawed people. The unique thing about them is the work of the Holy Spirit in them and through them. God used these ordinary people in extraordinary ways to show Himself through them.

3) God uses the Ordinary in Extraordinary Ways.

Wayne Rice tells the story of an ordinary donkey. The donkey awakened, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride. He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. "I’ll show myself to them," he thought. But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind. "Throw your garments down," he said crossly. "Don’t you know who I am?" They just looked at him in amazement. Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move. "Miserable heathens!" he muttered to himself.                                                                               

“I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me. "But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the market place. "The palm branches! Where are the palm branches?" he shouted. "Yesterday, you threw palm branches! "Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother. "Foolish child," she said gently. "Don’t you realize that without Him, you are just an ordinary donkey?"1

We are not unique, but our call is. Paul said, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:9).

Our only qualification is to be willing! God takes the ordinary sinner and makes a saint. His Spirit makes us unique. Present yourself to God and watch what He can do through you!

1 -“Only a Donkey,” from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.)