Ordinary People

Everyone loves a hero.  We watch the evening news, patiently waiting for a story about an ordinary person who did an extraordinary act.  It gives us hope.  It makes us feel good.  We hold these people up on our shoulders, have parades in their honor, and give them the credit that they deserve for what they have done.

In the midst of all of the well deserved hype, we often forget that our new-found hero is really just an ordinary person - no different than you and I. 

There are everyday heroes, such as our military personnel and all of the first responders, who's job description is to perform extraordinary acts everyday.  These people are heroes by nature, and deserve all of our praise and honor.

But what about the average Joe that finds himself in a situation that requires action?  And, he takes action.  And, to someone, he is a hero.

We all have that potential in us.

When Christ began His earthly ministry, He surrounded Himself with a group of guys that would be His disciples - His students - His friends.

He could have chosen the elite of society.  There were Lawyers, and Doctors in the first century.  There were Politicians, Religious Leaders and Military Commanders.  There was Royalty that He could have chosen from.  But He didn't.  He chose a bunch of ordinary guys, that would ultimately do extraordinary things.

We know that Peter, James, John, Andrew, and Philip were all fishermen.  We know that Matthew was a Tax Collector - a despised Jew that worked for the Roman Government.  The others, we don't know for sure, so we have to assume that their occupation wasn't worth mentioning.  In the first century, a Shepherd was the lowest job title that one could have.  But, in all fairness to our sheep herding friends, God chose the Shepherds to be the first to hear the angelic announcement that the Messiah - the Savior of the world - was born in the small town of Bethlehem, some thirty years earlier.

Throughout biblical history, God seemed to always choose ordinary people to do His extraordinary work.  God chose Abraham to be the father of a great nation that would be the family of God.  Abraham, for all practical purposes, was a nomad - a man without a nation - a nobody.  Yet God blessed him and made him into one of the few nations in the history of the world that has managed to keep its national identity for over 4000 years, the nation of Israel.

God could have chosen Egypt to be the nation that would bring the Savior into the world.  Egypt, at that time was a growing, powerful nation.  Their engineering skills were legendary throughout the known world.  But, it wasn't God's plan.  If there is one thing that God knows about us humans, it is our propensity to worship idols.  It wouldn't have taken long for the blessings of God to be taken for granted, and for us to start looking at Egypt with glazed eyes saying, "Look how awesome Egypt is!  Look how they have become such a great and powerful nation.  They always were one step ahead of everyone else.  They did it all on their own.  They are a self made nation."  And God would have been forgotten as the reason that they became great in the first place.

No, God chose an ordinary man so that all the world would know that it was God that was behind it.  And, He chose a group of twelve social outcasts to bring His message of Salvation to the world, so that all the world would know that it is the truth of God.

If God could use these ordinary men to bring His plan to the world, just think of what awesome things He can do with you and I.  All that is needed is faith, and a willingness to trust in God's leading.  But, as we know, that is where it starts to become difficult.

Dr. Charles Stanley wrote, "The call of faith is often a call to step out into the unknown." 

Abraham was a very wealthy man, in his day.  He owned livestock.  He had servants in his household, and he had a large extended family.  Yet God asked him to leave his family behind and "go to a land that God would show him."  It would have been one thing if God would have laid out Abraham's travel itinerary - first you'll go here, then you'll go there, and finally you will settle here.  But, He didn't.  He asked Abraham to simply pack his bags and go.  God would show him the way.

I can't even begin to imagine how much faith it took to do something like that.  Is God calling you to do something extraordinary?  He could.  Would you be ready?  Would you go?

Abraham's call was huge.  But, what if God put on your heart to help care for the elderly lady that lives across the street?  Or, babysit for the single mom that lives two doors down?  Would you do that?  Could you step out of your comfort zone, to the realm of the unknown?  Could you go, and then wait for God to lead you?

The bible is filled with stories of ordinary people, that with God's power, did extraordinary things.  Most of the time, they never knew just how extraordinary their act would become.  Theirs was one small part of God's great plan.

Are you ready to do your part?