12-02-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                         ALL SO ORDINARY

There are many examples in the Bible of God using people who had no ability of their own to accomplish His purposes. Think again of Gideon. He was probably the last person anyone would have chosen to lead God's people into battle. God, however, saw him as a “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12)—even though, when the angel of the Lord came to him, Gideon was hiding from the enemy and threshing wheat in a winepress for fear they would steal his food. When the Lord gave him an assignment, Gideon's response was honest: “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house” (Judges 6:15). Gideon was right: he had no innate abilities that qualified him to lead people into battle.

“But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon” (6:34), and God's power was displayed through him and his men. The result of Gideon's obedience? With three hundred men he defeated an army of one hundred twenty thousand. Impossible? For Gideon, yes. But not for God! Therefore the watching world gave glory to God, for only He could have given such a victory. The nations of the world did not fear the Israelites, but they did learn to fear the God of the Israelites. Or think again of the prophet Amos. His book of prophecy in the Bible begins, “The words of Amos, who was among the sheep-breeders of Tekoa” (1:1). Amos was a nobody from an insignificant place and doing unremarkable work. He cared for sheep and worked in fruit orchards. What in his background qualified him to stand before the king and boldly pronounce God's word? Nothing. Yet Amos was greatly used of God for a special assignment as the Spirit enabled him.

Or think once more about Peter—only a fisherman, unpolished, rough, abrasive, and speaking the tongue of a commoner. Was he really able to lead the disciples, preach the first gospel sermon at Pentecost, stand in the temple courts defying the religious elite, and write words that would go down in Scripture? Wrong question! The right question is this: can the Holy Spirit work through an ordinary laborer named Peter? Yes! A thousand times yes! GOD'S MAKEOVER As you recall what God did through such men in Scripture, consider this: If Gideon had taken a spiritual gifts inventory to determine his future course of action, his chances for taking a job as a military general would be almost nil. If Amos had analyzed and charted his talents and abilities, he would not have stood before the king. If Peter had done the same, he wouldn't have become an apostle. Likewise, David would never have been king of Israel, Joseph wouldn't have ruled in Egypt, Nehemiah wouldn't have rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and Paul wouldn't have been a missionary. If pursuing God's work depended on their own perceived abilities, most if not all of our heroes of the faith would never have become known.

After evaluating their strengths and abilities, they most likely would have concluded they didn't have what it took to meet the awesome task before them. The assignment just didn't match their “gift set.” But today we view these people as champions of the faith—because we've seen the last chapter of their lives. If, however, you'd met them before their encounter with the Lord and their filling by the Spirit, you would have found them to be very unassuming people, quite ordinary, and often poor, weak, and insignificant. “Extreme makeovers” have been popular on television, and seeing the before and after is often dramatic. But no Hollywood makeover can compare to the work of the Holy Spirit to transform a person's life. His specialty is using ordinary men and women in extraordinary ways.