God can use anyone to do His work because it is He who gives the power and it is His Spirit that does the work.

Luke 3:15-18

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

I’ve never been into fancy suits and shiny boots, so I love how the person who was chosen to prepare the way for the Messiah was this rough, wild man who lived in the wilderness and certainly didn’t wear the ‘suit and tie’ of his time. I picture this scary, hairy man with locust legs dangling from his beard proclaiming the good news to the people.

It fascinates me when I think of the people God chose to do some of His important jobs, like the shepherd boy to slay the giant and be the King, Moses who couldn’t even speak well to save the Israelites, and the odd bunch of disciples that he picked to be closest to him to spread the gospel. He chose the foolish things of this earth to shame the wise, so that no one would be able to boast in themselves.

It isn’t about who you are or what you look like. It is not about what you wear and how eloquently you can speak. It is about the message, not the messenger. In fact, I think God prefers to use the people that cannot rely on their own strengths and skills, so that they would fully depend on Him.  The message that John was preaching was powerful and he had a lot of people following him and listening to him.  Yet he didn’t let this ‘fame’ or ‘power’ go to his head, but he always was pointing to Jesus.

Head: Think about other people in the Bible that God has used that seem very unlikely choices for His work. 

Heart: If you sometimes feel like you are too awkward, or don’t know how to articulate well enough, or feel like you are not charismatic enough to tell others about Jesus, or work in ministry, you might be just the right person for the job.

Hands: Pray for God to show you how He can use you today.

Prayer: Thank-you for the assurance I have that I am saved. It is scary to think how many of my friends and family do not yet know you. I pray that your Spirit would work in their hearts that they would come to know you. I pray that you could use me, or others near them, to tell them about you so they could be saved as well. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

A song to listen to: Blessed Assurance

Petrina Rangiawha