Take a few deep breaths to center your heart and your mind as you prepare to meet with God.

Meditation on God

What is good about the best movies, music, and other art is how it reflects the story of God. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says that “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” Take a moment and think with God about one of your favorite underdog stories.

Teaching

“Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons. These are the twelve he chose: Simon (whom he named Peter), James and John (the sons of  Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).” (Mark 3:13-19)

When I was growing up in church, I remember hearing people read verses like John 3:16–”for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son…” When they would read this, I would think to myself, “the world seems like it could be worth Jesus dying over, but I doubt he would have sacrificed so much if it were just for me. I could be lumped into a group that would be worth that much, but I’d be hopeless if it were just me.

The list of names in this passage may not immediately be important to you. Maybe a few stick out to you from Sunday school, or maybe none at all, but to Jesus, these people would become his twelve closest companions. They would spend three straight years together, traveling from town to town, staying in strangers’ homes and camping out in the woods, sharing responsibility for chores for the sake of the group, and being delegated some of Jesus’ ministry responsibilities like preaching and casting out demons. So why did Jesus pick these twelve? Well, who would you take with you if you were about to take on some large task or undertaking? I know that if I were stranded on a desert island, I would want to take someone with the skills necessary to help us survive–someone like Bear Grylls or a Navy SEAL. This is not what Jesus did. In fact, a random person rightly points out in Acts chapter 2 that the people he picked were simple, uneducated men. Instead, Jesus picks twelve totally ordinary men who are more prone to make mistakes than to be successful or even faithful.

He picks Peter who famously cannot stop talking when he desperately needs to. He picks the brothers James and John, who are given the nickname “sons of thunder” for their loud voices and short fuses. He picks Simon the zealot, who was in an order of freedom fighting assassins, knowing that he would never ask or want him to use those skills. And he picks Judas, knowing that he would end up betraying him for thirty pieces of silver. John chapters 12 and 13 each say that Jesus even put Judas in charge of their combined money. Jesus pours every waking hour of three years into this hopeless bunch of men, entrusting them to preach while also correcting their misguided thoughts as often as the religious leaders of the day. Jesus’ decision to pick these men is best summarized by Paul’s account of hearing from God decades later: “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

Examination

Like David and Goliath, God often works in the world in mysterious, counterintuitive ways. Take a moment to think about a way you feel inadequate or less than other people.

Now and for the next few days, listen to God and be open to how He can use that weakness in you to display his immeasurable power through you.

Memory Verse

Whether you need to write it down on a notecard, in an hourly reminder on your phone, or commit it to memory, find a way to take 2 Corinthians 12:9 with you today, which says,

“My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)