1 Corinthians 1:26 (CSB)
Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.
Saint Augustin taught that our greatest challenge is disordered loves. For most Christians, it’s not that we’re loving the wrong things, but that we’re loving the right things in the wrong order. When God created us, He wired us to worship. Everybody, everywhere, is worshiping something all the time. The question is: Are we worshiping God Almighty, and does He occupy the throne of our hearts?
When we have disordered loves, everything can seem right in our minds, but we're left with empty hearts. This is exactly why we need things like devotionals, Bible studies, prayer, fellowship, and communion. These spiritual disciplines keep our hearts hardwired for the worship that is essential for one's spiritual well-being.
We all have good things that we love, like our family, friends, hobbies, church, and different forms of entertainment. These could all be categorized as good things from God, and it's not necessarily a bad thing to love them, but our struggle is that our hearts can get disorganized, and we end up loving them in the wrong order.
Our world today is overrun with celebrity worship. We tend to look them up on social media, follow them, and admire them from afar, sometimes even to the point where it could be considered worship. Even Christians get caught in this trap. Then we begin to believe that if a famous person became a Christian, they would make Christianity look cool and trendy.
But God doesn't need famous people to make His name trendy, cool, and attractive. He is the famous one. "For you, LORD, are the Most High over the whole earth; you are exalted above all the gods” (Psalm 97:9, CSB).
Throughout history, God has used ordinary people in extraordinary ways people who were humble, available, and totally surrendered to God's Kingdom purpose in this world.
As we seek first the Kingdom of God, we need to be careful not to fall into one of two traps:
1. Believing that only prominent and notable people can do great things for God: This attitude can make us overlook the supernatural power and ability of God to use ordinary vessels in incredible ways, and we end up giving all the praise to humans as opposed to God.
2. Focusing on the outward appearance instead of the inward work of God in one's life: When we get overly fixated on what famous people can do for God, we tend to miss the fact that God seeks to use ordinary people right where they are. This can cause us to step back, do nothing, and wait for the influential people of this world to take charge and do God's work.
We have a tendency to look at people like young Moses, who was a Prince of Egypt, and think, “He’s perfect for leading God's people out of Egyptian bondage!” In this season of Moses's life, he was full of pride. The power and influence of being the Prince of Egypt had choked all the humility out of his heart. He needed forty years on the backside of the wilderness, eating humble pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, before he was able to join God and deliver His people out of Egypt.
Instead of stepping back and waiting for God to use extraordinary people to do big things for His Kingdom, we should pray, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas where we may be struggling with pride in our hearts. Only a heart that is humble will desire to worship God above all else and seek first His Kingdom and righteousness.
So I encourage you today to do some serious soul searching in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help you order your loves correctly. In doing so, you might just find that you are part of God's extraordinary purpose, no matter how ordinary you may feel.