Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
The British sitcom Dad’s Army depicted a ragtag group of characters, exempt from conscription because of age and other factors, assembled on the home front during World War II. This unlikely group was preparing to repel a German invasion armed with some old rifles and a variety of broomsticks and bits and pieces. Somehow, this was supposed to give a sense of confidence to their community.
Like the characters in Dad’s Army, the believers in Corinth, Smyrna, and Philadelphia looked a lot like ragtag groups. If these early Christians were known for anything by those around them, it was for their poverty, for their weakness, and for their suffering at the hands of the authorities (Revelation 2:9; 3:8).
We might tend to think that people or places like this have little prospect of doing anything significant for God. Certainly, that’s what the Corinthian church was tempted to think as they sought worldly wisdom and power. But that’s because we often think far too little of God. He is not looking for the strong, powerful, and mighty, as if He needs them on His side in order to set forward His purposes in the world. No, the reverse is the case: He is looking for the weak ones, so that through them He may demonstrate His strength.
As in Smyrna, Philadelphia, and Corinth, and throughout the world, God has chosen deliberately “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” and “what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). And He has given us a message which seems to be total foolishness (v 18), so that when people are gripped and changed by it, their faith will rest not on the persuasive arguments or inspiring eloquence of a man or woman but on the very power of God.
We’re often tempted to try to make out that we’re better than we really are, thinking that if we could just present a good front, then people would be impressed and drawn to listen to the message we carry. But what we should seek more than anything is for people to be drawn to Christ—and nothing exalts and magnifies Christ quite like our testimony that God’s grace is sufficient and His “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
If you are all too aware of your flaws, shortcomings, or weaknesses, then you are ready to rejoice with the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Have you considered the possibility that your personal weaknesses may be the very key to your usefulness in God’s hand? He does not need your strength, and He can work with your weakness.
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Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, The Good Book Company.
