“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, NKJV)
With God, everybody is a somebody. He has a plan for each of us, and every life has purpose—including yours. You may feel you don’t have much to offer the Lord, but you do. Even before your birth, God already had a plan for your life. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you . . .” (NKJV).
BEFORE WE WERE BORN
It is amazing to realized that God already had a plan for our lives long before even a single cell of our existence was formed. Sometimes it’s difficult for us to understand just how much the God of all creation cares about us. Sometimes we compare ourselves to others and feel we are lacking, but God loves each of us. We are part of His plan.
As we read God’s Word, we discover numerous people we might consider insignificant or a nobody, yet God saw their worth. Some we never learn their names, but God positioned them for His special purpose. Let’s look at just a few ordinary people that God used in special ways.
JAEL
In Judges chapters 4 and 5 we meet Jael, the wife of a man named Heber. They were Kenites, nomads who lived in a tent. Jael courageously killed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, with a tent peg. Although she and her husband were not Israelites, God used her to help defeat Israel’s enemies.
HADASSAH
You would know this young Jewish maiden as Esther (her Persian name). We know very little about her early years other than her parents had died and she was being raised by her cousin, Mordecai, a devout Jew. God positioned Esther in the palace at Shushan “for such a time as this.” Her wisdom and bravery helped to save the Jewish people from destruction (Esther 4:14).
ANNA AND SIMEON
Anna, an elderly widow, spent her time fasting and praying in the Temple. Simeon was a devout man promised by God that he would not die until he saw the coming Messiah. It was these two devout people, not the religious leaders of the day, who recognized the child in Mary’s arms that day in the Temple. (Read Luke 2:21-38.)
PAUL’S NEPHEW
In Acts 23 we read of a plot to waylay and kill the apostle Paul. A group of forty Jews vowed to neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Somehow Paul’s nephew heard of the plot and informed first Paul and then the chief captain. The captain thwarted their plans and kept Paul safe.
SMALL THINGS MATTER
We could mention so many others— the young servant girl in Naaman’s household, the widow of Zarephath who fed Elijah, Rahab who hid the spies, Dorcas who sewed garments for widows. They were just ordinary people positioned by God to carry out His plan. Many times, that plan was simple. Tell someone that God can heal them. Share what you have, even if it’s meager. Encourage someone by doing a good deed. Live a life devoted to prayer and fasting.
“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13, NKJV)
Jael was a housewife and lived in a tent. Esther was an orphan being raised by a relative. Anna was an elderly widow who knew how to pray. Simeon held onto a promise from God, trusting it would happen. Paul’s nephew was a youth who was brave enough to report a devious plot.
While some would consider these small things, nothing God asks us to do is insignificant. If He positions us to do it, it holds importance. It is a holy assignment.
“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (II Timothy 1:9, NKJV)
Where has God positioned you? What talents and abilities do you have that can be used for His glory? How can you show Christ to those around you? No one is insignificant in the body of Christ. He created us with a purpose.
Devotion by Mary Loudermilk
