Living for the KingdomSample

God favors humility over capability, and He equips those whom He calls. ©2014 World Vision, photo by Jon Warren

Walking Humbly with Jesus

One of the most encouraging things I find in the stories of the Bible is how God uses ordinary people to carry out His work and His plan. He doesn’t choose the wise and sophisticated. He chooses those through whom His power will be made clear and His justice made apparent.

In fact, 1 Corinthians 1:19 says that God will “destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent” (NLT).

Destroy and discard … not things God would do to something He values, right?

Throughout the biblical narrative, we see God using those whom the world deems unworthy to do remarkable things for His kingdom. David, for example, was the youngest, smallest, and weakest of his brothers, even perceived as naïve. But he had a different kind of strength—his humility and his unshakeable faith in God.

God explained His choice of David to the prophet Samuel, saying, “…The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV).

As he faces off against the towering Goliath, we catch a glimpse of David’s great confidence in the Lord: “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47). David displayed faith in God’s strength to save him and his people.

Jesus, too, makes it clear time and time again that the things the world values—like strength, success, and accomplishment—are not how He chooses His followers. He doesn’t judge you with the standards that the world does. He doesn’t care how much money you have or how you look or what you do. He sees into the heart, and judges accordingly.

When we are wholly submitted to God, with faith in the great things He can do, He will equip us to do magnificent things. That’s the story of Jesus, who transformed the world forever through His willingness to die on a cross.

God’s perspective is far different than ours (see Isaiah 55:9). The first step to doing something significant begins when we place our faith in God’s promises, and give up our own agenda.