1. God of the Ordinary

"For many are called, but few are chosen."1
"There are many reasons why God wouldn't want to use many of us, but don't worry. We're in good company! As another has shared:


"Moses stuttered.
David's armor didn't fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of
fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Timothy had ulcers.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Jesus was too poor.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer. So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worrywart.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul—well, lots of folks did."


"Satan says, 'You're not worthy.' Jesus says, 'So what? I AM.' Satan looks back and sees our mistakes. God looks back and sees the cross. He doesn't calculate what you did last year. Sure. There are lots of reasons why God shouldn't have called us. But if we are magically in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite of who we are, where we've been, or what we look like."2
Perhaps today's Scripture could be interpreted as follows: "For many are called, but few prove themselves to be chosen." In fact, God calls every one of us to follow and serve him. If he waited until we were fully mature, whole and complete, he wouldn't get anything done. He will use us exactly as we are as long as we are available and willing to be used. In so doing we will then prove ourselves to be chosen ones.
Suggested prayer: "Heavenly Father God, I'm available—warts and all—please use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. Help me to keep growing so I can, with your help, become more usable. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Jesus (Matthew 22:14).
2. Author Unknown.

“Daily Encounter” - Oct 18/07

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Getting into God's stride

Enoch walked with God.

Genesis 5:24

The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights
(cf. John 1:36). It is a painful business to get through into the stride of God, it means getting your second wind spiritually. In learning to walk with God there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride; but when we have got into it, the only characteristic that manifests itself is the life of God. The individual man is lost sight of in his personal union with God, and the stride and the power of God alone are manifested.

It is difficult to get into stride with God, because when we start walking with Him we find He has outstripped us before we have taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined into His ways. It was said of Jesus - "He shall not fail nor be discouraged," because He never worked from His own individual standpoint but always from the standpoint of His Father, and we have to learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned by atmosphere, not by intellectual reasoning. God's Spirit alters the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and things begin to be possible which never were possible before. Getting into the stride of God means nothing less than union with Himself. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don't give in because the pain is bad just now, get on with it, and before long you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.

“Heartlight” - Oct 12/07