But God (9)

Aren’t you glad that in God’s economy things are upside down? We may be down, but God lifts us up. Some are imprisoned for their faith, but God sets their spirits free. You may be rejected by your family, but God accepts you and loves you unconditionally. Much of the world’s population is poor by the world’s standards, but God has provided riches in heaven for those who are His children by faith in Christ.

When God told Samuel to anoint a new king from Jesse’s family, the proud father brought out all of his sons to the prophet. Well, all but one. Each of the likely candidates, according to physical expectations, was rejected. When the youngest and smallest of the sons, David, was finally brought in for inspection, they were all surprised that he received the approval. Samuel said these words (familiar to all of us now), “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7).

God’s unlikely choices often astound us. There’s not only David, but what about Gideon? He was hiding from his dreaded enemies when God gave him a job to do. Or what about Moses, a murderer? Or Rahab and Ruth, foreigners who were chosen by God to be ancestors of Jesus Himself? And the disciples were all unlikely candidates, weren’t they? Lowly fishermen, a despised tax collector working with the Romans, a hotheaded political zealot, a smart accountant who stole from the treasury and betrayed Jesus in the end.

So why should we be surprised that God has called us to serve Him? Unlikely, yes. But tools in the capable Master’s hands. God’s purpose is to show His power, not ours. The apostle Paul was on a mission to destroy Christians, but God changed him in a sudden heavenly encounter. In one of his epistles he wrote: “You see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” ( I Corinthians 1:26-29). He also wrote: “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:10).

That’s God’s upside down economy. And I’m glad to be a part of it, aren’t you?

Other blogs in the “But God” series:
But God (1) | But God (2) | But God (3) | But God (4) | But God (5) | But God (6) | But God (7) | But God (8) | But God (9) | But God (10)