Are You Willing To Be Nobody

There is an old country song that said, “I’m chasin’ the neon rainbow, livin’ the honky tonk dream.” Very few artists find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow making their dream come true. Few make it to the ranks of a one hit wonder. Many will quit and get a “real job” or continue to sing on weekends in smokey old bars for “nickels and dimes.” Others will die of some addiction because of their depression over not making it to the Grand Old Opry.

I am afraid that many Christians are chasing their version of that neon rainbow. We have many “prophets” running around telling Christians that they will be rich and finance the Kingdom or have a TV show or some other form of worldwide ministry. Most will not have that prophecy fulfilled in their life. They will chase it, but it will elude them. Many will feel as if they are failures and live out their lives in depression. Others will turn away from God cursing Him until they die in loneliness and bitterness because “He did not fulfill His promise” that He never made. Some who seem to have reached the end of the rainbow by becoming well known are turning away because what they thought was the pot of gold turned out to be pyrite.

If you look throughout Scripture, God had far more nobodies than superstars as we would call them today. Some were one hit wonders as they came on the scene to pronounce God’s judgment and we never see them again. There were few Samuels, Elijahs and Elishas. Only Daniel lived in comparative luxury. Jeremiah had to deal with four hundred false prophets that lived in luxury and he suffered much because of them. After all, why should the king listen to him as he was outnumbered four hundred to one? Yet, he was right. Amos was a herdsman and a picker of sycamore fruit. He gave us one book in the Bible and that was it as did a few others. We even have an unnamed prophet that completed his mission, but messed up afterward. Had he not listened to the old prophet would we have heard more of him and even his name? We will never know.

Hebrews 11:35b ...and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

I would venture it is safe to say that few, if any, people receive a prophecy that they will be one of these heroes and heroines of the faith. Yet, there are far more of these people in the world today than superstars. We do not know their names. They are not writing books. Well, technically, maybe they are because their deeds are being recorded so they are writing their testimony in blood and tears. They do not appear on talk shows or travel in private jets wearing costly array and jewelry. They may be dressed in rags and adorned with scars, but they are beautiful in God’s eyes and will receive eternal rewards more so than many of us, including the superstars made that way by men, though not necessarily wise men.

We all seek identity and purpose, but we often see those things as something spectacular. Our identity is in Christ who came not as a king, but as a babe in a manger living as a carpenter until He was thirty. A fairly routine and average life for the King of kings. He was not even special in His appearance. He looked like any average Jewish man of the time. No, He was not blue-eyed with blond hair. If you have any picture of Him that is not Jewish you should trash it. Albeit, you should not have any image of Him because it would be a false image. Anyone that has had a vision of Jesus who does not look Jewish I would question. The average height of a Jewish man in that day was 5’ 1” so if He is 6’ 2” in a vision, I would also question that vision. Even John did not mention Him as being taller than He was on earth though His other attributes were being displayed differently, but certainly not 900’ tall demanding ransom money. We are to try the spirits.