God's Overlook

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“Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.”

- 1 Corinthians 1:27-30 The Message -




As a person of smaller stature, I hate being overlooked. Some might argue that much of who I am is to stand out and be noticed. Yet no matter how great I think I am, the apostle Paul here reminds us that God has preferential consideration for those who are ‘nobody.’ God uses people who are lost, broken, and left out. Even if we are ‘somebody’ and think we have it all together, when we come before God we must recognize that our plans are silly foolishness compared to the work that God has for us. The trick of course is to not hate ourselves or demean ourselves. After all, we are still made in the image of God.  We are God’s creation. God’s ways are just always better than our ways.

Even when we think of God’s saving grace – the way that God comes to us in love – this happens by no work of our own. Sure we have to recognize God. We have to accept God into our lives.  But the work of salvation is God’s alone. God does have great things in store for us. But this greatness is not our own.  It is only ours to brag about through recognition of what God has done in our lives. 

Yet, I find so much comfort that God is okay with lowliness and brokenness. God in fact might even prefer that we come with a few bumps and scrapes, that way we have continually reminders of our need of God. God is especially ready to use those who according to everyone else does not have a chance. Yet God does not seek to keep us in this state. Instead God’s work of transformation is ready to make us into the big and brilliant part of God’s creation that we are meant to be. The question is will we recognize and be ready for God?

To Read More: 1Corinthians 1:18-25, 3:18-23

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