Small & Ordinary

Jeff sent me this exerpt from John Piper’s blog entitled “When God will not use Bigness”.  It struck me …

“There are saving works that God will only do through small churches and ordinary people, not through large churches and more sophisticated people.

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” (Judges 7:2)

Beware of missing your appointed fruit by envying bigger trees.”

(Copied from www.desiringgod.org)  

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I’ve been thinking about this.  This last weekend, as you know, I had the honor to speak at a women’s retreat.  I could write a whole book on all that God did there, but suffice it to say that I was floored, absolutely floored at God’s faithfulness.  He truly met His women.  And I can unashamedly proclaim that God moved mightily at this retreat, and I can say that because I am so incredibly confident that not only is it not about me, nor is the work attributed to me, but God chose me, a small and ordinary person to fill in the tiny piece. I was just one little piece, but I was a piece, and for His glory I got to share and speak and teach and be a little mouthpiece.  At the end of the retreat, different women came and shared how God ministered to them.  One woman came, and I actually knew her from years back in Corvallis.  She cried as she shared, explaining that at the last women’s retreat she went to the speaker was like a celebrity, totally untouchable, and that she left the retreat just feeling totally worthless, like the speaker was in a whole different category and it made this girl feel horrible.  So she was amazed to see that this retreat speaker was just a girl, just a woman her age, who she knew, who had a real past, a real life, real faults (she was gracious enough not to say that part, but that’s the truth).  Basically, God needed to use a small and ordinary person to reach some of these women. And I’m so grateful I could be that small and ordinary person.  THank you, Lord.

Secondly, Jeff and I have been praying about where we belong, in terms of ministry.  We were praying about two opportunities (neither of which were guaranteed to us, but were possibilities). One was a huge, metropolitan church that has awesome ministry opportunities, and to be truthful, hefty salaries.  (just being honest here).  The other was our home church, in our little small town, with a bunch of pretty ordinary people, with a 1/2 time salary.  I can honestly say that it wasn’t the “glamour” of the big church that drew us, we were really and truly just trying to discern God’s will and be faithful.  And, we were really wondering if perhaps God wanted us in a “bigger” church so that we’d have increased opportunities.  We basically just want all that God has for us, whatever that might be.  So this week, as we prayed, this blog by John Piper came through Jeff’s GoogleReader.  He almost fell off his chair. He didn’t share it with me until the end of the weekend, because he didn’t want to sway my thinking.  But after the weekend, after thinking about small and ordinary people, he shared this blog and my jaw dropped. Yes.  That was it.  How like God to reverse our expectations, as with Gideon and show how some great things can only be done through un-great people.  Lord, we pray that You would accomplish great things through your un-great people, through small and ordinary people like Jeff and me, through small and ordinary churches, through small and ordinary means so that You might receive all the glory.  Let it be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.