We are His Signs and Wonders
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Col. 3:1-3
Jesus thrives most in our weakness. The recurring narrative throughout the Old and New Testament speaks of the wonders of God displayed through unlikely characters. Just recall the stuttering sheepherder who would eventually lead a nation into freedom, a boy disregarded by his family, who with a few stones in hand outwitted a formidable foe, an orphan girl who would later turn the heart of a king to alter the course of her people’s history, and an unpopular tax collector along with a handful of unsuccessful fishermen that were hand-picked by Jesus to build the universal and eternal Church…
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” – 1 Cor. 1:27-29
There are two things the women and men in these passages had in common: They were ordinary people but they had an extra-ordinary relationship with God. It is in this relationship that we discover who we truly are as children of a good and holy Father. He strips away the value system set by human calculation and defines us not by what we do or don’t do but who we are as His beloved. He invites us to relinquish the elementary principles of this world that we would not submit to the lowly decrees set by human standards. We were never called to an ordinary relationship with God because there is nothing ordinary about our God. We are called to establish His Kingdom on earth through our unique expression of love, creativity, and innovation through the glory of Christ working in us.
The cry of God’s heart is found in the broken hearted, the bound, the dejected, and the unqualified by the world’s standards. Jesus comes not to condemn but to set free from the judgment formed by the influence of sin and evil. Thankfully, God is not swayed by the outward appearances but rather values the condition of the human heart. Jesus empowers us by activating our weaknesses in His strength. Most of us want to shy away from highlighting our imperfections and our inadequacies but God specializes in drawing them out in order to heal and renew your identity.
The relationship He offers is genuine and vibrant. For a relationship to be vibrant, it needs a reciprocal form of love. Genuine love gives us the strength to weather through the storms in life. True love demonstrates a supernatural power to overcome the odds and it cultivates a passion to relentlessly pursue the imaginable. Jesus loves us with this kind of love. It’s this love that draws out the best in us.
The men and women of faith that have gone before us were just as ordinary as you and I. Their perseverance wasn’t determined by intellectual ability, hard work, physical strength, good looks, a good name, or being a people pleaser. They simply gave a full “yes” in response to God’s call upon their lives, not a half-hearted “yes”, not a shady “yes” with hidden with conditions or agendas but a complete and resounding “yes!” in their hearts. Let us invest in our faith by believing God to be who He says He is in the midst of the unknown, in the victories, and in heartache.
Triumph over darkness comes because you believe in who God made you to be and nothing or no one will convince you otherwise. It’s this type of daily response to the effects of life that can nourish your ability to contend in the midst of adversity. It motivates and arms you with the strength of His power to pursue each day with an expectant faith to keep believing God’s ultimate desire is for you to continually discover and manifest the extraordinary in who God has uniquely fashioned you to be. Give God a resounding, “Yes Lord! May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Prayer: Lord, continue to build and restore my faith daily that I may receive your Word and promises in full. Protect my heart and mind so I may lift my heart in praise for what your hands have made in me. I take in your Word by faith and receive it as my own. May your Word to me be fulfilled for your glory and my joy. Amen.
Additional verses: Is. 8:18; Ex. 3:7-10; 1Sa. 17; Es. 4; Matt. 9:9-13; Matt. 4:18-22; Co. 2:20; Jn. 3:17; 1Sa.16:7; Lk. 1:38
