Ordinarily Useful

David was the most unexpected man to ascend the throne of Israel. The people had chosen a man named Saul. He stood taller than everyone else and was somewhat charismatic. People liked him. At first it looked as though Saul would be a good king. But it wasn’t long before he was filled with pride and began blatantly disobeying God. The Lord warned him, yet Saul kept disobeying. Finally, the Lord said in effect, “You’re done. I’m going to replace you.”

Along came David, with reddish hair and probably some freckles. The people who watched Samuel anoint him as the next king of Israel perhaps thought that Samuel was going senile. Are you kidding me? Him? You’re choosing David of all people?

Yet God sees things differently than we do. David was just an ordinary shepherd boy, yet he was chosen by God.

Why do you think God seems to go out of His way to choose the most unqualified people? It’s a very simple answer: so He’ll get the glory. As 1 Corinthians 1:28–29 tells us, “God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God” (NLT).

You have nothing to say about the circumstances you’re facing right now. But you have a lot to say about how you will react and what you will live for.

God isn’t looking for talented people, gifted people, or handsome people. I’m not saying that He won’t use those people. But God is looking for available people, and He can do a lot with a little. He can do extraordinary things through very ordinary people. God uses ordinary people to change the world.