Listen to today’s devo!

I provide . . . drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. (Isa. 43:20–21)

Do you feel chosen? Do you feel valued and loved? Do you see yourself called by God to a particular purpose? Can you see a future? Or, like Gideon, do you struggle with feelings of doubt? Gideon felt himself such a failure that he tested God three times. Moses gave God innumerable excuses for his failures, yet God used these failings to groom him as a leader. Peter was considered a common and illiterate fisherman, but Jesus turned him into a powerful preacher. Poor Job. He lost every tangible possession he had, and not only did he consider himself an utter failure, but his family and friends also made sure he knew how worthless he was.

These Bible heroes had something in common: They debated their worthiness to God and wrestled with their imperfections. They struggled with weakness, unbelief, and failed past experiences. Yet God formed each of them—and you—for himself, to proclaim his praise. God did not randomly choose them for his purposes, but he knew them. He saw their hearts and he saw possibility, potential, and promise in their commonality.

Instead of giving in to their intense doubts and deep feelings of inadequacy, Gideon, Moses, Peter, and Job, along with countless others, in the end, chose to have faith in God’s purpose for their lives. Will you join them?

Let God use your ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary.

Susan Gordon lives in Wadsworth, Ohio, where she enjoys serving in local organizations, biking, kayaking, exercising, and spending retirement making memories with her husband and grandchildren.

© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.