Where might God already be using me that I have considered too ordinary to matter?
Study Outline
God Uses Ordinary People
As you read Luke 1:26–38, listen for what God tells Mary, what Mary asks, what Mary fears, what the angel says about the Holy Spirit, and Mary's final response. Gabriel is sent to Nazareth to a young woman named Mary. Nothing in the passage suggests she was famous, wealthy, politically powerful, or anyone the world would have called extraordinary. She was an ordinary person God chose for an extraordinary assignment. The pattern runs all through Scripture: Moses, David, Gideon, Peter, Mary. None of them began because they had everything figured out. God was the extraordinary part of the story.
God is not simply looking for ability. He is looking for availability.
- Why do you think God so often chooses ordinary people?
- What causes people to think God could never really use them? Their past, their lack of Bible knowledge, confidence, age, education, money, fear, failure, feeling unqualified?
- Have you ever talked yourself out of something because you did not feel qualified enough?
- Think about where God has already placed you: your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, your school, your friendships, your family. Where might God already be using you that you have considered too ordinary to matter?
Favor Is for Service, Not Status
Gabriel tells Mary she has found favor with God, and her life does not suddenly become easier. It becomes more complicated. Her assignment could affect her relationship with Joseph, her reputation, her family, her future, and her community. We tend to think God's favor means everything works out easily, doors open by themselves, life gets comfortable, and everyone approves of us. Mary's story gives a different picture. God was not only blessing Mary. He was going to work through Mary.
Favor is for service, not just status. God's favor on Mary's life came with an assignment.
- What comes to your mind when you hear someone say, "I have the favor of God"?
- How does Mary's experience challenge our normal understanding of favor?
- Can something be difficult and still be part of God's purpose? Why?
- Have you ever looked back at a difficult season and realized God was doing something you could not see at the time?
The Response
You do not need a platform to be used by God. Most times your assignment is already standing right in front of you.
- Name the ordinary place God has already put you.
- Stop waiting to feel qualified before you say yes.
- Ask whether a hard season might be God working rather than God absent.
- Offer Him availability instead of ability.
Some of the most important things God asks of us require sacrifice, patience, courage, endurance, and trust. Difficulty alone does not tell us whether God is working.
"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." — Luke 1:38, ESV