God Can Use Anybody!

Jim:

Today's readings help to prove, over and over agian, that God can use anybody to accomplish the devine will.

2 Samuel 11:1-27
When the people of Israel had first pressed God to establish a king for them, Samuel warned them what it would mean. Among other things he told them that a king would take their young men and their young women to do as he wished (1 Samuel 8). This chapter shows David doing exactly that. Verses 1 and 2 show David sending his army under command of Joab out to fight, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to do battle.” Then comes the unseemly story of David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Samuel’s words have come true. And according to verse 27, “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” David might have had authority over his people, to require their service as he saw fit, but God remained truly sovereign, and David would be held accountable.

Acts 19:11-20
Verse 11 says that “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul…” My first thought was whether there is such a thing as an “ordinary miracle”. But disregarding that odd turn of phrase it seems clear that, as God did with David, an adulterer, so God could do with Paul, a man who had persecuted the church, and that is to accomplish God’s will. God constantly works through the most unlikely of folks: a shepherd who stutters; a reluctant prophet who runs in the other direction; a dresser of sycamore tress; a young girl about to be married; and many others. David and Paul are just two among many who find themselves enabled to serve God despite their failings or their sinfulness. We, too, have our roles to play, despite our sinful condition and despite our failings.

Mark 9:2-13
Even thick-skulled disciples like Peter, James, and John have a role to play in the coming reign of God. Why do I say they are thick-skulled? Verse 10 says, “So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.” Jesus had revealed to these three disciples that his identity would only become clear in his crucifixion and resurrection. But they simply did not understand. Still, it was with folks like Peter, James, and John, that the early church took shape and began the spread of the gospel throughout the world, a phenomenon that continues to this day.