The significance of insignificance

It never ceases to amaze me that God chooses the insignificant, the unimportant ones to bring about his plans and purposes. Even in creation, out of all the 300 – 500 billion galaxies in our universe, each with countless stars and planets, God chose our insignificant galaxy, the Milky Way and placed our star the Sun out on one arm. Planet Earth is the third rock from the Sun incredibly insignificant compared to mighty Jupiter or fantastic Saturn. Yet on this beautiful blue and green rock reflecting the light of the Sun, God placed his creation including Man born in his image to reflect the light of his Son. Why this insignificant planet?

God loves to use the insignificant. In fact he often seems to prefer the least in families or society to be used the most. Joseph the eleventh son raised to be second to Pharaoh in Egypt and save his family and the nascent nation. Moses the younger son of Amram, so fearful he could hardly speak, was chosen to lead the Israelites out of captivity. Gideon, the least of the least was called to deliver Israel from the Midianites. David, eighth son of Jesse, called to be not just be king in Israel but to become a focal point of kingship in the nation that all other kings were compared to him. Solomon, not the oldest born of the ‘first wife’ but a minor son yet noted today for his wisdom, knowledge and the building of the most stunning temple ever.

Every one of them chosen by God not because of their looks, talents, abilities, position but because they would grow in trust and obedience to God. They would succeed and fulfil their destiny to save and lead nations.

The Christmas story is full of people of no apparent significance or prominence who have gained significance by being obedient to God’s call on their lives.  Mary and Joseph, a poor couple looking forward to being married were suddenly chosen to stand in the spotlight on the stage of world history. Shepherds, out in the fields doing their job, found themselves selected completely out of the blue to be the first visitors to the infant Jesus to signify God coming to earth for the poor and marginalised of society. 

In today’s celebrity crazy, instant fame society of ours, it can be easy to get caught up in seeking prominence to give us significance.  Significance in God’s eyes comes though in places with no prominence; those serving faithfully in the church, those helping the poor and weak of society in the city slums, those fighting for social justice or in the mission field far away from the glare of media and cameras often doing incredibly significant things with no prominence at all. 

 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1: 27

Society seeks prominence and ten minutes of fame to applaud but God wants men, women and children of significance; significant because of obedience to his call on their lives. Mother Teresa gained prominence but I doubt if she particularly wanted it other than to draw attention to the plight of the poor in India.  For those poor people her life was very significant. 

I know we can long for prominence to bring assurance and worth to what we do but we have great significance even when we are hidden.  Fame and prominence are of little value even though highly prized by our societies. Significance through obedience whether we know about it or not is the prize of the Christian.

The power of individual prayer

But what measure could amount to Your desire
You’re the One who never leaves the one behind

So will I (100 billion) Hillsong

God is so interested in the one, a thought that pursues me.

In all of the immensity of God’s creation, He never loses sight of the one, the individual. I know I can get overwhelmed by the problems in the world, in Europe, in UK, in my town but God doesn’t call us to try and fix everything but to partner with him in helping change the life of the one.

As I’ve written before each of us can have a profound effect on one other through kind works but the effect of our prayers on situations can be profound. I sometimes think we don’t truly understand how vital our prayers are.

A Christian praying in a church destroyed by IS

As individual Christians I believe we need to grasp again the enormity of the impact we can make through prayer into individual circumstances. The devil would have us to believe we make no difference, our prayers are not important.  On the contrary they are essential.

God is not paternalistically listening to our prayers, patting us on the head and then going on with the big business of sustaining the universe. Nothing could be further from the truth. God takes each prayer and puts it into action if he possibly can. As we partner with his heart for other people and situations, God acts.

Huge world problems are overwhelming but focusing in prayer on the one whether that be someone struggling in poverty at home or abroad, a politician or a persecuted Christian we can make such a difference to their lives.

The most important thing is to prioritise our prayers and learn how to pray from God’s perspective not ours. That leads to effective intercession. It starts with regularly connecting with God. This in itself can be a real battle with the other demands of our busy lives.

In my last few years of work, I was incredibly tired and God kept gently urging me to get up earlier and spend time with him. I felt that was impossible. I was already exhausted. Finally I gave into his nudges and set the alarm for half an hour earlier. Those precious half hours supported me through my last years at work. I was able to pray for all sorts of things that before had been impossible. I found these verses from Isaiah 40 so true.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

I had had a similar experience years earlier when our four children were small and I felt I just could not find the time to pray and read my Bible. God showed me how and when I could fit that into our demanding schedule. Again the benefit and blessing was immense.

God cares about the one – you and me – and our relationship with him. He so desires that we too have a heart for the one. As we prioritise the One, he will show us how we can pray effectively for the one, whoever that may be. We truly can change the world one prayer at a time.

Loving the one

Recently I have been so challenged by Jesus' concern for the individual. The Hillsong song So will I has the lovely line - You're the one who never leaves the one behind. God is passionate about the individual. He died for each one of us individually, not as a mass of humankind. I felt I couldn't better explain this by writing a fresh blog so I am re-posting this one from August 2015.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man – and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. Mark 5: 15 – 17

The reaction of the local people to the casting out of the legion of demons from the demon possessed man is very interesting.  When they came and found the man ‘dressed and in his right mind’ they were not astonished or amazed but afraid.  This was not the normal reaction of the crowd when Jesus performed miracles. That was usually one of wonder and praise to God.  These people were afraid and when they saw what had happened to their pigs, they ‘pleaded’ with Jesus to leave.

They did have a bit of a point though. 2000 pigs had just gone helter skelter over the cliff and their livelihood with it. To lose 2000 porkers at one time would have been quite a blow to quite a few people, probably Gentiles, as they were the ones who kept pigs, the ultimate unclean animals. 

Their only thought was the loss of their pigs in the lake. Jesus’ thought had been the delivering of a wretched demon-possessed man. In the big picture, his was the greater need. Jesus always went for the one, the individual. He told the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd left the 99 to go and look for the one.  Jesus wanted to know who had touched his garment in a heaving crowd of humanity when the lady plagued by bleeding reached out for her miracle. 

Jesus’ concern for the individual is a wonderful encouragement for us as well. Sometimes, it can feel as if we are not making any difference in this world. There are so many needs and our contribution is so small. 

Have you heard the story of a boy on a beach the day after a terrible storm?  The beach was covered in starfish, washed up by the storm, and one by one the boy was throwing them back into the sea. An old man came along and laughed at the boy, telling him that he was not making much difference throwing them one by one back into the ocean. The boy picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea and replied, ‘Well it made a difference to that one.’ He understood the need of the individual. 

I have been reading a book by a missionary to Burundi, one of the most heart breaking countries on earth, torn for years by civil war, brutality, terrible poverty and disease. One day when visiting South Africa the missionary and a friend took an orphan, dying of AIDS, on a long journey to fulfill a wish to swim in the ocean. He loved it but soon after he died. Was it worth it the missionary wondered? 

You bet it was.  ‘The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25: 40.  We may not be able to fix the world’s problems but we can make a significant difference to the life of an individual.  We can sponsor a child, we can give to charity, we can pray for individuals and churches. 

If everyone did that, we may find that some of the world’s problems, especially abject poverty, surely this generation’s greatest disgrace, would be lessened.

Turning God's dreams into reality

Dreams by their very nature are unrealistic. If you can remember any of your recent dreams they probably do not reflect real life. They often, in my experience, take a jumble of memories and recent experiences and mix them up into an interesting hotchpotch of events. If you are fortunate they may construct into a pleasant, even funny story and if not they may create a frightening nightmare.

I had an interesting dream last night. It involved a new photo album we had ordered from an online company and though it was full of our photos, one page was different in that instead of being just one photo it was a slideshow of photos as you might see on your computer. I was recounting the dream to my husband and commented on the absurdity of it when he remarked that it wasn’t completely foolish. He then outlined how it could become a reality. I was amazed.

It made me realise though that the dreams God gives us, though appearing unrealistic, are actually meant to become true. The great dreamer Joseph is a case in point. He was the 11^th son of Jacob, a fairly well to do shepherd but hardly born for the high life. He dreamt that he was out in the fields and his brothers’ sheaves of corn bowed down to his sheaf. He then dreamt that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him, meaning his parents as well as his brothers. Unfortunately, being young and foolish he told his brothers and parents about his dreams and they were very unimpressed, so much so that Judah and the brothers had no difficulty selling Joseph to a travelling caravan of Midianites who took him off into a life of slavery and imprisonment in Egypt.

It was here though that he honed his dreaming and administrative skills so that when he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams he was confidently able to bring the word of the Lord to Pharaoh and save not just the nation but also his family. His original dreams were fulfilled but over 20 years later. God gave Joseph his dreams, not so he could brag about them to his brothers but to encourage him to persevere through the hard preparation years into his destiny.

In all the difficult circumstances of betrayal, lies, misjudgements, false imprisonment and rejection Joseph never lost sight of God. He was Joseph’s focus though I am sure there were times when Joseph dismissed his dreams as the vain imaginings of a young man. But God was working out his plans even in the midst of all the disappointments so that when the time came Joseph was ready, prepared by the events of his life.

We are often encouraged not to let go of our God given dreams, to stir them into life and this is important but of greater importance is to focus on the Lord in the good times, the bad times and the downright awful times. There may be occasions when our dreams seem like the vain imaginings of another era but with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, we can ask him to prepare us for the fulfilment of our dreams.

Our God dreams are meant to be fulfilled. They are not meant to be the unrealistic ramblings of our sleeping minds. God’s dreams come true. They are there to inspire us to persevere in all the seasons of our lives but fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12: 2) we will see our dreams become reality.  

Post Christmas ponder

It is very easy now that Christmas Day has passed to put away the Christmas story for another year, to wind down the carols and to focus on the social aspects of this season. After all by next Sunday we shall be thinking about the New Year and what 2018 will bring.

However before we consign Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, shepherds and wise men to the spiritual attic of our lives, it is good to take a moment to reflect again on these key players in the greatest birth that the world has even seen. The whole event was upside down.

Royal births are a major occasion and Jesus’ birth should have been the most royal of royal events. Yet nothing could have been more removed from this birth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This was not a birth to royal parents in a palace with every convenience that 1^st century Judea could provide. This was a birth in a stable of all places to two very ordinary but Godly people, carefully chosen by God to fulfil this most precious assignment – to parent the Son of God.

I often wonder what Mary thought when she realised she was going to have to give birth in a stable. She had had to deal with all the social ostracising that her pregnancy had caused, all the gossip and rejection that she and Joseph must have had to bear in small town Nazareth. Now it seemed that God wasn’t even going to provide a small clean room to give birth to his son. Poor Joseph too must have been distressed that he couldn’t provide a suitable place for this royal birth.

As I’ve said before it is so easy with the benefit of hindsight to see the significance of these events but when you are living them, Mary and Joseph had a tough time.  Then the first visitors were not the good and great, the significant and famous as it should have been – it was shepherds – unclean in every way - shepherds. These were probably the shepherds who looked after and provided the sheep and lambs needed for the temple sacrifices. More deep significance that those at the bottom of the social ladder, those providing the sacrifices for the temple, were the first to see Jesus the perfect sacrifice, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

I wonder how many mangers in how many stables and outhouses the shepherds checked before they found Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. They would have entered awkward and gauche to see the baby but bringing the story of angels coming to their hillside telling them that a Saviour had been born – the Messiah. They were so excited about what had happened that they told everyone about it. I expect Mary and Joseph received a lot more visitors after that. But the Bible makes clear Mary treasured all these things in her heart and pondered them.

Before we pack away Christmas for another year it is worth taking a moment to also ponder the amazing fact that Jesus came in the most unlikely of circumstances with the most improbable of people as the key players to come and save us, the most underserving of people. Do we treasure up in our hearts the wonder of our salvation by the King of Glory?