Just Ordinary People

Saturday - June 5th

Scripture to Read Today: Daniel 1:15-21

---

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

1 Peter 4:10

In different settings in the 1980s, I heard soloists sing a simple sweet song that fit the era. The song was "Just Ordinary People." That song spoke volumes to me personally as a teenager. As I sensed God's call toward ministry throughout high school, I often thought God would not or could not use someone like me to serve Him vocationally. My insecurities pointed me away from being a pastor. But, God got ahold of my heart. He made it clear that he used ordinary people like me to accomplish extraordinary stuff for His Kingdom.

The song cemented it for me. Here is the first half of the chorus:

Just ordinary people

God uses ordinary people

He chooses people,

just like me and you

who are willing

to do what he commands

The first few times I heard that song, I looked over my shoulder. To whom was the soloist singing? I thought of people who needed to listen to the message that God does indeed use ordinary people. But, as a teen, I realized God wanted me to hear it. He wanted me to grasp its message. The Lord knew how inadequate I felt I was to serve Him in any way. He knew I needed to understand that He can use people who feel inadequate to be helpful tools for the Lord.

After they departed from the typical Babylonian diet for ten days, Daniel and his three Jewish friends were healthy and ready to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar's team of advisors. They believed to eat unclean foods even in captivity would violate God's commands. That stand gave them a witness to their captors who were far from God. This early act of obedience to God in the face of worldly pressure to do otherwise was the first of many times these ordinary men were used in extraordinary ways.

How about you and your life? Do you recognize and celebrate that God uses people others think He can't or won't use. Do you allow him to use "ordinary" you? 1 Peter 4:10 tells us God gifts all of us to serve Him. Now we need to do it!

God uses ordinary people! Don't delay. Ask Him to use you to impact the lives of others - even if you don't think He can.

God uses every day, ordinary people to accomplish His divine eternal plans. We need to align with Him now!