But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1:27
When I was younger, I wasn’t very good at
basketball. I wrestled and played soccer growing up, and didn’t really pick up
basketball until later on. As a result, I was never chosen first when we were
picking teams. In fact, I think it’s pretty safe to say that I used to be
chosen almost last – every time. I’ve gotten a little better now so it’s not as
bad, but I always feel awful for the guy that is chosen last. He obviously has
very little athletic ability, and he’s usually much smaller or much bigger than
everyone else. He often already has a low opinion of himself, made worse when
the “unfortunate” team that ended up with the last pick gets “stuck” with him.
Nobody wants a flat tire on their team who not only cannot be used, but also
hinders production.
Looking at it from the world’s perspective,
the same could be said of someone with very little talent or abilities when it
comes to God’s service. But there are lots of contradictions when it comes to
God – die to self to live, lose your soul to gain it, and…be weak to be strong.
God is not looking for the man who has everything going for him and is
depending upon his talents and his abilities (“not many mighty, not many noble,
are called” 1 Cor. 1:26). He is looking for the man who is small in his own eyes
and who, from an outside standpoint, would never be useful to anyone. That is
the man that God uses to “confound the wise.”
One of the greatest sports analogies of
all time is used when a small, seemingly weak team is playing a powerhouse.
They say it is a “David vs. Goliath matchup.” The reason is David was one of
the weak and outwardly unusable instruments that God used to defeat a mighty
enemy of Israel. No warrior watching on either side that day would have ever
thought they would see the “battle” end with David using Goliath’s own sword to
chop off his head. But David was not concerned about his own victory; he was
concerned with standing up for the name of God, and God blessed and used him.
God will use the weakest among us because
that is when God gets the most glory and the most honor through the things that
are done. Often the strongest see themselves as just that and will try to claim
the victories for themselves. It is only when we become weak in our own eyes
that we are chosen to accomplish great things for God.
Quote of
the day: “You may be too big for God to use but never too small.”
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