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Title: God Loves Nobodies
Date Posted: 8/27/2001
Author: Bruce Wilkinson
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 Verse Text: For 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. Have you noticed that Jesus was unusually attracted to people who had emptiness in their lives? And not just sometimes, but often. Losers and loners, the sick and the lame, the weak and the hungry—these were the ones He came for and whose needs He met. These were the ones He chose as His disciples. When you think about it, you realize that Jabez shouldn’t have made it. Into the record books, I mean. He began life as one of Israel’s certified nobodies. No fortune. No social standing. No special talents. No promising future.

You’d expect the mention of Jabez, then, to be dust in the back pages of Jewish history, along with Ezer, Koz, and Anub (and his other kin mentioned only in passing in 1 Chronicles). Yet we see that Jabez’s life ended up with significance, fulfillment, and honor.

The truth is, God loves nobodies! Have you ever heard of Agnes Bojaxhiu? She never went to college, married, or owned a car. Instead, she spent her life caring for the starving, the sick, and the dying on the streets of Calcutta, always insisting that her vocation was not social work, but “to belong to Jesus.”

You know her as Mother Teresa, Nobel Prize winner and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. Her stooped frame and wrinkled, joyful face became one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable symbols of faith in action. Today, the order she founded cares annually for five hundred thousand hungry families and ninety thousand lepers worldwide.

Yet a few years before she died, a journalist asked her, “What will happen, Mother Teresa, when you are no longer with us?” Her answer: “I believe that if God finds a person even more useless than me, He will do even greater things through her.”

Perhaps you feel uniquely unworthy of any kind of special blessing. You go through your days feeling vulnerable and weak (although you’ve probably learned to fake it pretty well). And you go to bed wondering, Will I ever get it together?

Let me gently clear up your confusion. The answer to that question is “No.” (Same answer for every other human, by the way.) But God has big plans for “useless” servants. Take a moment to grasp this amazing truth: Jesus is attracted to you! He loves to be needed by people like you and me who are absolutely convinced of our own inadequacies, people who know that without His unmerited generosity toward us, we would be and have nothing.

Have you been letting an exaggerated sense of your own inabilities or status keep you from the blessed life? You can change and leave that prideful trap behind. The very fact that you are so keenly aware of your weaknesses and limitations makes you a most promising candidate for God’s best.

From the dawn of time, your Father has known you and loved you. He’s not waiting today for you to get it together. He’s waiting for you to come to Him with open, empty hands.

My Jabez Journal: “Lord, thank You that You have big plans for a nobody like me! Now I beg You to pour Your extraordinary favor on me today. Bring to my mind the “small thing” You want to bless in my life.”

Click Here to go to The Prayer Of Jabez Website

The Prayer Of Jabez Devotional
Published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
© 2001 by Bruce Wilkison




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