I’m proud to be a Misfit. I have a hard time relating to people that aren’t. It’s difficult for me to sit in a room of perfect Christians and feel like I belong. Truth is… I’m a mess. My favorite people are the people who are different. Pushed aside because they don’t conform to society’s standards. Thank God our citizenship in Heaven is not based on how cool we are, if we are a perfect size “6″, or have the perfect SAT score. It’s not “who has the most toys” that wins. There will not be a sign over the pearly gates that says “Perfect People Only.” No, the cool thing about the Kingdom of God is that God takes us as we are. I have often told Lori that I think God sits up on his throne and doing a “face palm” wondering what it is I was down here doing, and wondering how I ever come up with half of what I do.
There are days when I wonder if I can do anything right. Some years ago, my self esteem was so low, that I would have never thought that God could – or would- use me. Now I have the privilege to be right in the middle of miracles left and right. So if God can use me… can he use you? Let’s look at what we know:
1. God Uses Real People. He did not call a giraffe to lead His people out of Egypt. He did not ask an elephant to build the Temple. He did not direct a whale to make fishers of men. He has used, and will always use, people. And it’s not just that He uses humans – but for some reason, God chooses to use the most unlikely specimens of the human race. Specifically, God uses sinners who sin, physically weak people who are limited in their abilities and attributes, and social misfits. It thrills God to no end in choosing and using real people. Real people who sin. People like me.
2. God Uses Sinners. Jacob was a conniving little thief, who, at first glance, has no business being lauded in one of God’s titles ”the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He lived his life grabbing after attention and possessions. He even had the nerve to tell his father, Isaac, a bold-faced lie on the old man’s death bed! But it is interesting the lengths to which God went to use this man. Long before Jacob wrestled with the angel and was finally broken by God, God saw fit to use Jacob to father the future tribes of Israel. Most curious of all is that Jacob is the father of one of the most upright men in the Bible, Joseph.
And just so I cannot be accused that I am just bashing the men of the Bible, let’s look at the moral weakness of three of the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. There was Tamar, the widow of an evil son of Judah. When Judah failed to honor custom and give her his next-youngest son as a husband, Tamar disguised herself as a whore and seduced her own father-in-law. There was Rahab, not only a pagan Canaanite, but one of Jericho’s best-known hookers. Then there was Bathsheba, who gave into King David and we all know what happened there.
Thank God for his grace, mercy and forgiveness! Human beings are the only stuff with which God has to work when it comes to “earthly vessels,” and whether you’ve got it together spiritually or not, He reserves the sovereign right to use you. We cannot disqualify ourselves from any task based merely on our self-righteous evaluation of ourselves. God is not impressed with what or who we THINK we are. He knows what we are. We are the children of the most awesome God – the creator of the universe. He created us and He is perfect. Who are we to argue with that? In fact, Isaiah 45:9 says “But doom to you who fight your Maker— you’re a pot at odds with the potter! Does clay talk back to the potter: ’What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!” I quit arguing with God a long time ago. Who am I to say that I am not worthy enough to be used?
3. God Uses Wimps. Moses stuttered. Job lay in the street, covered with boils. Zacchaeus was “vertically challenged.” Simon was called The Leper, even after his healing. These people limped along in the slow lane of ability and yet were used by God for His purpose. Let’s not forget that Christ’s ministry had nothing to do with His physical attributes, either. We think that Jesus was some kind of a handsome, hot guy since all pictures of him portray him that way. Have you ever seen a painting of Christ that made Him look ugly? I’m not talking about the ones where he is beaten unrecognizable… I’m talking about the portrait type pictures. In Isaiah 53:2 look at what Isaiah says about Jesus: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” That wasn’t a description of the Lord as He died - that was a description of Him as He lived and walked among men. His body had nothing to do with His ministry.
Paul provides the clearest expression of God’s heart on the issue of using people who are physically different or weak. He lists a misfit’s credentials for his ministry: “I’ve been spit on. I’ve been beaten. Maybe you’d like to hear about my time. Oh yes, I’ve been shipwrecked, stoned, and given up for dead. I’ve been hard pressed, abandoned, and almost knocked out of the ring. The Gentiles hate me and the Jews can’t stand me.” Then he presents the most distinguishing mark of God’s grace on his life. God gave him something else- a vision with strings attached -a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. When Paul asked that it be removed to make his ministry easier, the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul told the Corinthian Christians to look at themselves and notice that, for the most part, God called people into their fellowship who by human standards were neither wise, strong, nor influential. He’s saying the Lord deliberately choose misfits, among others, to get His work done so that when the job is completed, the glory goes to Him and not to us.
4. God Uses Misfits. Us “Misfits” are in good company. What we need to remember is that we are not “the message” – we are just the messenger, and we only need be willing to be used. The next time you feel like God can’t use you, or someone is trying to condemn you because you are not the “perfect person” remember this: NOAH WAS DRUNK* ABRAHAM WAS TOO OLD* ISAAC WAS A DAYDREAMER* JACOB WAS A LIAR* LEAH WAS UGLY* JOSEPH WAS ABUSED* MOSES HAD A STUTTERING PROBLEM* GIDEON WAS AFRAID* SAMSON HAD LONG HAIR, AND WAS A WOMANIZER* DAVID HAD AN AFFAIR, AND WAS A MURDERER* ELIJAH WAS SUICIDAL* ISAIAH PREACHED NAKED* JONAH RAN FROM GOD* NAOMI WAS A WIDOW* JOB WENT BANKRUPT* PETER DENIED CHRIST* THE DISCIPLES FELL ASLEEP WHILE PRAYING* MARTHA WORRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING (THIS IS ME)* THE SAMARITAN WOMAN WAS DIVORCED MORE THAN ONCE*ZACCHEUS WAS TOO SMALL* PAUL WAS TOO RELIGIOUS* TIMOTHY HAD AN ULCER* AND LAZARUS WAS DEAD!!!!
After all, we are in good company.
