Do You Know How Valuable You Are?

Part 4: The Foolish Things

“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.” 1 Corinthians 1:27

“Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Exodus 4:11

God’s Résumé Pile

If God ran a hiring agency, He’d be out of business by Tuesday. I mean that as a compliment — to Him and to you. Because when you look at the people God chose throughout Scripture, there’s a pattern so consistent it can’t be an accident. He doesn’t pick the obvious candidate. He NEVER has. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it — and it changes the way you look at yourself forever.

The world picks the polished. The qualified. The impressive. The one with the best résumé and the firmest handshake. God picks the guy whose hands are shaking. Paul laid it out as plainly as anyone ever has: “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 1:27-29). Things that are NOT. Let that phrase land. God chooses the people the world says don’t even exist. The invisible ones. The ones nobody counts. God looks at the person the world walks past and says, “That one. That’s the one I’m going to use.”

The Stutterer

Moses. The man who stood before Pharaoh and demanded, “Let my people go.” The man who parted the Red Sea. The man who received the Ten Commandments directly from the hand of God. That man didn’t want the job. When God called him from the burning bush, Moses didn’t say, “I’m ready, Lord.” He said, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). That’s not exactly a TED Talk application. “Tell us about your public speaking experience.” “Well, I talk to sheep. They seem fine with it.”

And God’s response? “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Exodus 4:11-12). I MADE your mouth. Including the stutter. And I’m going to use it anyway. That’s God. He doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called. Smith Wigglesworth said it best: “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” Moses couldn’t give a speech without tripping over his own tongue. And God used him to deliver an entire nation.

The Runt

David. We’ve spent time with him already in this series. But let’s go back to the beginning — before the cave, before Goliath, before any of it. The prophet Samuel came to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king of Israel. Jesse lined up his sons — tall, strong, impressive men. Samuel looked at the eldest and thought, “Surely this is the one.” And God said, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

One by one, seven sons passed. None of them. Samuel asked, “Are these all your sons?” And Jesse said — almost as an afterthought — “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11). He’s out back. With the sheep. Nobody thought to call him. NOBODY. His own father didn’t consider him worth presenting. And THAT was the one God chose. The runt. The afterthought. The boy his own family overlooked. Let me tell you, if God can take a kid nobody bothered to invite inside and make him the greatest king Israel ever had, He can do something with YOU.

The Loudmouth

Peter. Oh, Peter. If Moses was the reluctant leader, Peter was the opposite — he couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life. He was impulsive, brash, and had a habit of speaking before his brain caught up. He once walked on water and then immediately started sinking. That’s Peter in a nutshell — spectacular faith followed by spectacular failure, often in the same sentence.

But here’s something most people miss. Jesus told Peter something terrifying and beautiful all at once: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). Satan had to ASK PERMISSION. Just like he had to ask permission with Job. The enemy can’t just take you. He has to go through God first. And Jesus didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I won’t let it happen.” He said, “I’ve PRAYED for you.” He let Peter go through the sifting — the denial, the shame, the total collapse — but He prayed that Peter’s faith would survive it. And then the kicker: “When you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Not IF. WHEN. Jesus already knew Peter would fall and already knew Peter would come back. The sifting wasn’t the end. It was PREPARATION. Just like the cave was for David.

Peter denied Jesus three times. And Jesus restored him three times — with the same question, three times over: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). And then He gave the loudmouth who had failed spectacularly the single most important job in the early church: “Feed my sheep.” That’s God’s hiring policy. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

The Persecutor

And then there’s Paul. Let me tell you, if you think YOUR past disqualifies you, wait until you hear about Saul of Tarsus. This man didn’t just reject Jesus — he hunted down and killed the people who followed Him. He stood over the garments of Stephen as they stoned him to death (Acts 7:58). Think about that image. The coats of the executioners, piled at a young man’s feet, while an innocent man dies. That’s self-righteous authority at its worst — presiding over death, clothed in the garments of human power.

And THIS was the man God chose to write half the New Testament. This was the man who would later write, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Paul knew what “while we were still sinners” meant because he had been the WORST of them — and he said so himself (1 Timothy 1:15). A persecutor who stood over bloody garments and then spent the rest of his life laying down his own life for Christ. If God can turn THAT around, He can turn anything around.

Do You See the Pattern?

The stutterer. The runt. The loudmouth who was sifted like wheat. The persecutor who stood over bloody garments. None of them qualified by the world’s standards. EVERY one of them qualified by God’s. Because God’s hiring policy has never changed: He doesn’t pick the impressive. He picks the available. He picks the broken who are willing to be rebuilt. He picks the foolish things to shame the wise.

Do you know how valuable you are? You’re valuable enough that the God who chose a stutterer, a runt, a sifted loudmouth, and a murderer is looking at YOU right now and saying, “That one. That’s the one I’m going to use.” Your weakness isn’t a disqualification. It’s your APPLICATION.

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A Moment Before You Go

Lord, I’ve spent my whole life thinking I don’t have what it takes. Today I’m starting to see that You’ve never been looking for what the world looks for. You chose the foolish. You chose the weak. You chose the overlooked. And You’re choosing me. Not because of what I can do, but because of what You can do through me. Use me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “God does not love some ideal person, but rather human beings just as we are, not some ideal world, but rather the real world.” God doesn’t want the version of you that you’ve polished for public consumption. He wants the real one. The stuttering, sinking, failing, broken one. THAT’S the one He chose.

Smith Wigglesworth said, “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” Your disqualification is His invitation. Stop waiting to be ready. He’s already chosen you.

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Next: Do You Know How Valuable You Are? — Part 5: The Father’s Voice

Always i-CH