READ: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
What kind of people does God invest in? Paul’s words here in this passage might well come as a bit of a shock. They’re shocking because they run COUNTER-CULTURALLY against most of the ideas that we’ve all been raised with. Our society values those who have the right looks, wear the right clothes, flaunt great talents and abilities. That’s the kind of people that the world invests in.
But Paul says that God chooses the seemingly foolish, weak, and insignificant (as the world sees them). They’re the ones He calls. In fact, He calls NOT MANY wise, NOT MANY mighty, NOT MANY noble.
Why does God do that? Verse 29 tells us - “so that no flesh should glory in His presence”. God’s looking to invest in people who, when everything is said and done - and He’s used them, and they’ve been successful - will say “IT WAS ONLY BY YOUR GRACE THAT WE MADE IT. We couldn’t have achieved one iota without You!”
That’s the message of these verses. It’s a great encouragement isn’t it?! that God can gain the MOST glory by using ordinary people like you and me. But you know, there are many Christians who are intimidated by their feelings of inadequacy. And we ALL know our own weaknesses and limitations better than anybody else does, don’t we?! And so we think that because our resources are so small, we could never do anything for God. “Leave it to those talented people; those ‘Super-men and women’ who have it all together”.
Do you know what is the strangest thing I’ve found to be true? Those so-called ‘super-people’ don’t really exist! Because if you get close enough to one of those really talented, seemingly ‘all-together’ people, you discover that they’re just human beings like the rest of us, with the same feelings of inadequacy about themselves that we all share.
ILLUSTRATION: Gladys Aylward was a missionary to China more than 50 years ago. (You may remember her story - they made a film about it called “The Inn of the 6th Happiness”). She was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yangcheng, but she would not abandon the orphans that she had been caring for. With just one assistant, Gladys Aylward led more than 100 children over the treacherous mountains toward Free China.
Along the harrowing journey she grappled with despair and, at times, a feeling of utter hopelessness. One morning on that journey, after Gladys Aylward had had a sleepless night, a 13 year old girl reminded her of Moses and how he had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. To which Gladys replied: “But I am not Moses”. Then the little girl said, “Of course you aren’t, BUT JEHOVAH IS STILL GOD!”
When Gladys Aylward and those orphan children made it through the mountains to safety, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we may feel, God is still God, and we can depend on Him.
This evening I want to take a brief look at three stories from the Old Testament, in which God asks us three questions. And we’re going to see that God invests in ordinary people, and despite our feelings of inadequacy, if we will just give God what we have (even though it might not seem like much at all), He can take it and work wonders for the glory of His Name.
The first of these questions that we are confronted with was asked of Moses, and we find it in EXODUS 4:2.
You’ll recall how Moses was rescued from death as a baby - when Pharaoh was having all the Jewish infant boys slaughtered - he was hidden in a basket in the reed banks of the River Nile. And in the providence of God, Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her own. And so Moses was raised amongst the royalty of Egypt - given the finest education and every advantage in life at that time.
As a young man he found himself perfectly positioned to be able to help his people - the Israelites. He had the ear of Pharaoh himself. He had been delivered from death, and brought by the hand of God to this incredible place of opportunity. Surely he was born to be a man of destiny.
But then it all went sour! Moses, in one rash moment of anger, seemed to throw it all away. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew - one of his people - and he lashed out and killed the Egyptian, and as a result he wound up having to flee for his life into the wilderness.
Moses spent the next 40 years tending another man’s sheep in the wilderness. The dream was smashed. Destiny lay in ruins. He was a young man when he fled Egypt; 40 years is the best part of a lifetime - seemingly wasted because of one rash act!
But then one day Moses came upon a burning bush - it was on fire, but it wasn’t being consumed - it was still green. And Moses said: “I will turn aside and see this great sight!”
For 40 years Moses had been living day to day, just maintaining the status quo. And sometimes when we are so locked into the status quo, believing that this is our life’s lot - nothing’s ever going to change - God has to step in dramatically and get our attention. And that’s what God did with Moses at the burning bush. He got Moses’ attention!
And Moses encountered God at that bush - after 40 years in the wilderness. And God said the most outrageous thing to Moses: “GO BACK and bring My people out of bondage in Egypt.”
The answer that Moses gave to God’s call is understandable, don’t you think?! I can sympathize with him. He says, “Lord, it’s too late! Surely! Now if you had asked me 40 years ago it would have been a different story - I was well positioned then - I had youthful energy then - I was well-spoken. Lord, most of my conversation over the past 40 years has been with SHEEP. I don’t conduct myself very well around people any more - and I’ve almost forgotten how to SPEAK Egyptian! How an I going to talk to Pharaoh?! And what about the Israelites - why should they listen to me? Lord, it’s too late. I had my chance and I blew it! I have nothing left to offer. Find someone who has the ability.”
And it’s then that God asked Moses this wonderful question - a question that He may also be asking YOU tonight . . .
[READ: Exodus 4:2]
The FIRST question God asks is:
1. “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HAND?”
You know, some people are always dwelling on the failures, the mistakes, the wrong decisions of the past. “If only I’d done this; if only I hadn’t done that!”
But God says: “You want to ask forgiveness for the past? Good. Fine. But then forget it! You can’t do anything about it, except learn from it. You can’t change it. It’s gone! But what have you got in your hand NOW - today?!”
“Moses, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HAND?”
Moses looked down, and what was in his hand? A ROD. A simple shepherd’s staff. A walking stick, and a tool for scruffing sheep. That’s all he has in his hand. The legacy of 40 wasted years! And God says: “THAT’LL DO JUST FINE - we can use that!”
“What are we going to do Lord? Hit every Egyptian over the head with a stick?”
God said: “Throw it on the ground Moses. You’re in the presence of God - now cast it before ME!” Moses threw it down, and immediately it turned into a snake, right before his eyes. God said: “Pick it up again”. Moses took it and it became a rod again in his hand.
And God said: “Come on, let’s go to Egypt and set my people free!”
Can God use a simple shepherd’s rod? Of course He can. With MOSES it was a rod; with David it was a SLINGSHOT; with SAMSON it was the jawbone of an ass. It doesn’t matter what it is - WHY? Because “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” And because “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”
It was that ordinary, plain old rod of Moses that God used to baffle the magicians of Pharaoh’s court; it was that same old rod that God used in Moses’ hand to unleash ten plagues over the land of Egypt; it was that same old rod that Moses extended over the Red Sea to part the waters; it was that same old rod that Moses used to strike the rock in the wilderness and provide water for the Israelites.
“WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HAND?” It’s not too late. God doesn’t throw people away. “What have you got in your hand?” You may not feel like you have very much at all, but God wants to take your weakness and give you His strength.
Then there’s a SECOND question that God asks. It’s found in 2 KINGS 4:2. It’s a question that the prophet Elisha asked of a needy widow woman.
[READ: 2 Kings 4:1-2a]
2. “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE?”
This story shows us how God wants to take our need and give us His SUPPLY.
This widow is in trouble. Her husband, the family provider, is dead. She can’t afford to pay the bills, and the creditors are at the door, about to take away her two sons to sell into slavery in order to redeem the debt. What is she going to do? SHE CALLS FOR THE MAN OF GOD. And he asks her this question: “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE?”
Not very much at all. Just one jar of oil left, that’s all.
[TELL STORY OF MIRACLE WITH THE OIL.]
“WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE?”
You may not have all that much, by YOUR way of thinking, but if the little that you do have is put at God’s disposal, you’ll see exactly what HE can do with it!
Do you realize that God created the entire human race out of a mound of dust?! He created the entire earth out of a formless void! HE CAN DO ANYTHING!!!
A little boy was brought to Jesus one day, and that little boy was prepared to put his lunch at God’s disposal. It didn’t seem like very much at all - especially when you consider the crowd that Jesus needed to feed. But Jesus took that little lunch - just five barley loaves and two small fish - and He fed a multitude of 5000 men, plus women and children!
But it’s not just material need! Whatever the need may be - “My God shall supply it all according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!”
ILLUSTRATION: I remember hearing Pastor Tommy Barnett tell the story of when he arrived at the church in Phoenix. the congregation was very small. But as he took the pulpit on the very first Sunday and looked out at the small group, God spoke to his heart and said: "Everything you need is right here in the house." That church has grown to several thousand members, and Tommy Barnett says that those few he began with are still right at the core of the church. They’re his leaders today.
“WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE?!”
Then the THIRD and final question that God asks is found in 2 KINGS 6:17.
The King of Syria was attempting to make war with Israel, but the problem was that every time they went to set a trap for the Israeli armies, the Israelites moved in another direction. It soon became clear that the Israelite generals knew the King of Syria’s plans in advance. So the King called a security meeting, and he said, “There must be a spy in the camp! We’ve got to find out who it is.” But one of his servants said, “No, there’s no spy. the problem is the Israelite prophet Elisha. God shows him everything. He knows every order you give - he knows what you say in your bedroom - and he’s telling the King of Israel.”
So, the King of Syria sent a great army, with chariots and horses, to the city of Dothan to capture Elisha.
Now Elisha was in Dothan with his young servant. It was early morning, and the servant went out of the place where they were staying to begin the days work. But he looked up into the hills, and he froze. There surrounding Dothan was this great Syrian army.
He rushed back into the house to Elisha, and reported what he’d seen. He said, “Alas master! What shall we do?”
And then Elisha said the most peculiar thing to him. He said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them”.
The servant was baffled! He looked up into the hills and took a rough estimate of the thousands of Syrian soldiers, and then he looked back at himself and Elisha, and he counted: 1 - 2! “What on earth are you talking about, Elisha?”
But then, the gracious, wise old man of God prayed for his servant, and he simply said, “Lord, I pray, open the lad’s eyes that he may see”. And the Lord opened his eyes. The boy received spiritual sight.
Now, son, . . .
3. “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR EYE?”
That’s the question God asks. “What have you got in your eye?” “What do you see?”
now the boy looked, and what did he see: forget the Syrians, the mountains around Dothan were filled with horses and chariots of fire - standing guard around the man of God. (NOT around the city - around Elisha.) It was the Host of the Lord - the angelic armies of God.
You see, the Lord’s armies had been there all the time. Elisha knew it. But the boy needed to get spiritual sight.
And when you’re feeling inadequate - like the situation has you beaten - you feel outnumbered and overwhelmed - God asks, “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR EYE?”
You need to get God’s perspective on things. You need to get the Romans 8:28 perspective - that “All things work together for those who are called according to His purpose.
ILLUSTRATION: A little boy was on summer holidays, and there was a circus in town. Every day he would here the music of the parade coming down the street on which he lived, and he would race over to a knothole in the front fence and look out. He was so excited to see the colours of circus performers, and the little glimpses he’d catch of the animals. He could only imagine how wonderful it all must look in the street.
But then on one of the days he woke up with a bad headcold, and his mother confined him upstairs to bed and said he was not allowed outside to play. He was bitterly disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to look out his knothole to see the parade again. Later in the day he heard the music as the circus began to come down his street again. All of a sudden a thought occurred to him. If he climbed up on his desk, he might be able to see the parade from his bedroom window. Sure enough, when he climbed up he was startled by what he saw! because he now had a birds-eye view he could take in the whole parade in full! All that time he’d been straining through a knowhole in the fence to see just a little bit, when he could have been seeing it all from a higher perspective.
So often we question God because we don’t understand our lives. Cicunstances don’t make sense to us. We’re looking out through the little knothole of our human viewpoint, and we don’t see very well. But God sees perfectly. We need to trust Him, and wait on Him to get HIS sight.
“WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR EYE?”
CONCLUSION:
Let me read to you again the passage that we began with (1 Corinthians 1:26-31), but this time from J.B. Phillips:
“For look at your own calling as Christians, my brothers. You don’t see among you many of the wise (according to this world’s judgment) nor many of the ruling class, nor many from the noblest families. But God has chosen what the world calls foolish to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world calls weak to shame the strong. He has chosen things of little strength and small repute, yes and even things which have no real existence, to explode the pretensions of the things that are - that no man may boast in the presence of God.”
You don’t have to be some super-gifted genius in order for God to use you. God takes the most unlikely candidates to use for His glory. He doesn’t look so much for great ability - but rather He looks for great AVAILABILITY.
He simply asks three questions:
* WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HAND?
(He wants to take our weakness and give us His strength.)
* WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE?
(He wants to take our need and pour in His supply.)
* WHAT HAVE YOU GOT IN YOUR EYE?
(He wants to take our limited view and give us His sight.)
