God is known for using unexpected people to do unexpected things.

I wrote a Sunday Encouragement post about it a couple months ago—read that here—and this is a bit of a sequel to it, in a way.

Now, there’s a verse in 1 Corinthians that is just so freaking cool:

‘Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 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. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.‘ (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NIV)

At a glance that looks super intimidating, but let me break it down in a paraphrase:

Think of when you were called: not many of you were considered good enough by human standards. But God chose the things opposite of what the world wants to cancel out the ‘better’ things.

This verse is really encouraging to me because, guess what! I’m not the wisest, I’m not the strongest, I’m sometimes despised and often lowly. But God doesn’t choose only famous, strong, well-liked people! He chose the ones that nobody else would choose.

You know how when you’re just playing a pick-up game of something—basketball, football, soccer, dodgeball, baseball—the team captains always choose whoever is either 1. strongest/fastest, 2. their friend, or 3. the best at that game. Who would choose the eleven year old girl who is scared of the ball?! Right? There’s always a kid who’s left and who nobody wants.

God isn’t like that. He’s going to choose the weak ones so that they can feel strong and the lowly ones so that they can feel uplifted.

Have you ever felt like that, like the last picked player? God says ‘Ah nah, you ain’t gonna be stuck down there. I’m gonna bring you up here.’

So: the next time you feel like you’re not good enough, remember: you are good enough, and you are crazy awesome.

Happy Sunday and have a great week!
~Willow