OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Kay Keith Peebles 2/26/21 21.8
God does not search for great men and women. He’s not impressed by the super star, the most brilliant, talented or able. He’s not looking for the one who stands out in the crowd. He’s looking for the one who is empty of self, has nothing to give on his own, and has a heart that seeks Him passionately. He does His best work through the ordinary, the simple, and the weak. Moses was a complete failure when he headed to the back side of the desert. The Lord loves to use the weak things to confound the wise.
“But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:24-29. NKJV, Emphasis mine.
Moses felt the call of God on his life knowing he was spared from death when his mother put his infant body in a small basket in the Nile River. He was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in the palace. When he became a man, however, he dealt with the slavery of his people through the flesh (his own strength and reason) by killing a guard. He fled to the desert for his life. It was in the desert, forty years later, Moses lost himself and found the Lord. The Lord approached Moses through the burning bush because he was now empty of his own strength, having become humble and pliable in the Lord’s hands.
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back or west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb or Sinai, the mountain of God. The Angel of the Lord (Jesus pre-incarnate) appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, yet was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I.” Exodus 3:1-4. Amplified Version, Emphasis mine.
When we are self-confident and proud, we do not turn aside to look at the “burning bush”. Moses had become humbled enough God could now use him to set His people free. Because of his humility, he was captivated by a burning bush that was not consumed and sought to understand something he knew nothing about.
The Lord approached Moses and said, “Now behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites out of Egypt. And Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” AMPV, Exodus 3:9-11.
Moses probably experienced a flash-back of his failure forty years prior, when he used the arm of his flesh and his own understanding to defend the Israelites, which ended in disaster. It seemed impossible that the God of all Creation was calling him to return to Egypt to set His people free! This time Moses would go empty of himself and his own solutions but completely surrendered to the Lord to do His will. God showed Moses He would go with him and empower him and Aaron his brother to succeed in bringing the Israelites out of the bondage of slavery.
When we are full of ourselves we are useless to God; but when we are empty, God can fill us with Himself and empower us to succeed.
After Jesus was Baptized and had fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness, He began to call forth His twelve disciples to join Him in ministry. He first summoned Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew to follow Him and become “fishers of men”. See Matthew 4:18-19. He also called James and John, fellow fishermen, to join them as His disciples. See Matthew 4:20-22. These men along with the other eight disciples were rough, foul mouthed and proud when they agreed to follow Jesus. However, they were changed after three years of Jesus’ teaching and training, and emptied of self-confidence knowing they had deserted Him in His time of need. After Gethsemane, the cross and the Resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to them in the upper room and restored them in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Although they did not fully understand the impact the Holy Spirit would make in their lives, they were obedient to remain until He came and empowered them. Emptied of their own reason, flesh and pride, the Holy Spirit flooded them with power and boldness to be His witnesses in all the earth!
In Acts Chapter 4, Peter and John were arrested by the high priest, military commander of the temple and the Sadducees who had become indignant at their teaching about Jesus. The next day all the dignitaries gathered again and demanded to know by what power they healed the man crippled from birth. See Acts 3:1-10. Peter began his response in verse 8. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. (See Psalm 118:22.) Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’” Acts 4:8-12. NKJV.
This was powerful and bold after Peter had denied the Lord three times during His trial! His failure was the catalyst that sprung Peter into his purpose through God. He became humbled and obedient and the Holy Spirit consumed him with power from on High. This caused the Jewish hierarchy to be amazed.
“Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the school [common men with no educational advantages], they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13-14. AMPV.
There was nothing they could refute or do about the healing. They forbid them to speak or teach anyone about Jesus. These were the same leaders who had Jesus crucified. Peter’s response to them was “But we [ourselves] cannot help telling what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20.
Peter and John left the crowds and went back to the church and prayed for more boldness! “And now, Lord, observe their threats and grant to your bond servants [full freedom] to declare Your message fearlessly, While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.” Acts 4:29-30.
Being ordinary is not a liability; rather, it’s an attraction to God because out of our weakness, His strength is poured out. “And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions. Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.” Hebrews 11:32-34.
God is not looking for extraordinary people to pour His glory through; He’s looking for those who have nothing to offer Him. He needs those who are broken and humble before Him, who have given Him their whole heart. It is the ordinary men and women that have realized they are helpless without the Lord. They may even be burned out, but in desperation they turn their attention to the burning bush the Lord places before them. Having tried and failed in life, they recognize they have nothing within themselves of greatness. Their brokenness, emptiness and humility provides the fertile soil the Lord needs in which to pour forth His treasures of wisdom, power and boldness to be His witnesses wherever they are called.
I close with the powerful words of the Apostle Paul. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me!’” 2 Corinthians 12:9. NKJV.
It is Out of the Ordinary that the Extraordinary pours forth!
