From the Pulpit: ‘God uses the ordinary to accomplish the most extra-ordinary work’

There is an inspirational children’s book by Angela Elwell Hunt called “The Tale of Three Trees” in which three trees on a mountain dream of what they wanted to become when they grew up. Each of them wanted to become something very special.  One of them wanted to be made into a treasure chest. A second tree wanted to become an ocean-going boat. The third wanted to be a signpost to God. But as Hunt tells the story, each of them were seemingly used to create something that appeared to be not so special, but rather quite ordinary and mundane. 

The first was used to create a simple livestock feeding trough; a manger for cattle or sheep. The second was used to build a rather small boat that would not likely travel on any ocean, but would be limited to sailing on some small body of water. The third was used as a Roman cross for the gruesome crucifixion of criminals. 

At first, they were all disappointed, until they realized how special their purpose was. The manger became the greatest treasure chest as it held the newborn Savior of the world. The small boat sailed on the Sea of Galilee, carrying the Messiah. The cross, used for execution, held the Savior of the world, the righteous Son of God as he died to set us free from our sin, showing the awesome love that God has for us.

God uses the ordinary to accomplish the most extra-ordinary work. God uses simple, ordinary people like you and me, even though we might believe that we are nothing special. God is not limited by our “ordinary-ness”. In fact, God sees you not as ordinary at all, but rather as one through whom He is able to accomplish special, great things. When we look at our lives, maybe what we see are the failures or weaknesses. But God knows that those weaknesses do not limit what He can accomplish through us. Sometimes, God even uses our weaknesses to accomplish His will.

The greatest evangelist of all time, the Apostle Paul, pleaded with the Lord to remove what Paul described as a “thorn in the flesh.” But the Lord’s reply to Paul was to deny Paul’s request and the Lord told Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God is able to use us not because of any specialness that we possess or don’t possess. Rather, God is able to use us as we simply look by faith to him, to His tremendous power and glory and grace.