One thing, among the many, I love about Jesus Christ is that he chooses the most unlikely people to carry out his mission. Jesus continues God’s long practice of electing the derelict, the scrawny, the winless, the impulsive, the shy, the most implausible human beings to advance his divine and perfect plan on earth. Whenever I think I’m too small or weak or sinful or rash or foolish to be used by God, I remember his “perfect power from weakness” deal (2 Corinthians 12:9), and I realize I am a prime candidate.
Perhaps one of the most illustrative examples of this wonderful practice of God is Peter. Not only, according to scripture, was Peter one of the first of Jesus’ disciples to be chosen, he was also in Jesus’ inner circle, along with John and James. And after Peter received the Holy Spirit, he was used in a way that changed the course of history. And Peter was a real pill.
There is a stark and remarkable before and after line in Peter’s walk with Christ. Before Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, Peter’s relationship with Jesus was one of ignorance, trepidation, and an intense awareness of his own guilt in the presence of holiness. Peter’s first encounter with Christ, when Jesus filled his empty nets with fish so abundantly that they nearly sank the boat, brought great fear and an immediate and intense shame in the realization of his own sin (Luke 5:8). When he saw Jesus walking on the water, he boldly asked to join him there, but then became overwhelmed by the waves and, with a rebuke and an outstretched hand, Jesus had to rescue him (Matthew 14:28-30). He was awkward in his position as an apostle, impulsively sputtering out a ridiculous offer to build tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus when he witnessed their transfigured, glorified bodies on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:4). He fell asleep when Jesus needed him, impulsively cut off a man’s ear when Jesus was arrested, and brought rebuke from Christ when he pushed back against Jesus’ foretelling of his death, prompting Jesus to call Peter Satan (Matthew 16:23). Perhaps his greatest failure was his empty pledge of loyalty (Matthew 16:22-23), in which he emphatically declared his allegiance to Christ in trial and death (Luke 22:33), then on the same night denied him not once, but three times (Luke 22:54-62). Before his encounter with Jesus, he was Simon, which means “hearer.” Despite all of his failings, Jesus instead called him Peter, which means “Rock,” in reference to the way Christ would use him to build his church (John 1:42).
Consider what Peter became after Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). The book of Acts chronicles how this rough and tumble, rash and impulsive fisherman was transformed into an eloquent, confident, authoritative, bilingual preacher who was given power over demons and the supernatural ability to heal. He no longer denied Christ or ran from danger. His authority was so tied to Christ’s that at a rebuke from him, a couple who kept part of the church’s offering for themselves died on the spot (Acts 5:1-11). Jesus gave him a vision that would extend the offering of salvation beyond the Jews to the Gentiles (Acts 10). God used Peter’s bold and bombastic nature to build his church. Christ’s blood covered Peter’s failures, and the parts of Peter’s personality that were his downfall now became redeemed tools in the hands of the living Christ.
When I am tempted to succumb to feelings of worthlessness, inadequacy, and self-doubt, I train my mind on God’s word, which is filled with weak, foolish people who became chosen champions for Christ. Jesus didn’t disqualify Peter from ministry because of his epic failures. Nor did he completely change Peter’s internal attributes. Instead he restored the fallen Peter to the redeemed Peter, supernaturally refurbished and ready to change the world. The redeemed Peter was perfect in God’s eyes because he was utterly hidden beneath the blood of Christ.
The same applies to all of us who submit to the grace offered to us at the cross. Here is the marvelously good news:
Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 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 Corinthians 1:26–29).
In an article published on the Desiring God website, Steven Lee wrote:
If your résumé is sparse, your intellect feeble, your skills unimpressive, and your wisdom just average, fret not. God can use even you — even me. God wants to use those who look away from their self-sufficiency to his all-sufficiency. God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him — his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment.
I can relate to the Apostle Paul when he complained, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). I get so very sick of myself. I tire of my laziness, my leaky brain, my forsaking of prayer for social media, my uncaptured thoughts, my selfishness, my exhausting fear of man-the list is endless. Then I am reminded that I serve a God who, because of his sacrifice on the cross, will never condemn me (Romans 8:1). I love a Lord who left the glory, splendor, comfort, beauty, and perfection of heaven to squeeze his majesty into the form of a tiny baby, submitting himself to the care of his fallen creatures, then grew up to speak the very words of his Father before dying a horrible death, so that I could one day fall upon him in desperation for rescue from my self. With the realization of these truths, my doubt, my frustration, my fear, my inadequacy, my acknowledgment of self at all, are swallowed up in great joy and relief, and a complete freedom to fearlessly serve him. I don’t have to strive. I don’t have to wear myself out trying to please him. It is finished. He is pleased. And I only have to say I love him and mean it.
God is glorified when we look to him in our weakness so that his strength can be exulted. May it be true of us today.