His divine power is incomprehensible, his greatness no one can fathom, his wisdom is unexplainable yet he chooses the foolish, the weak, the lowly and the despised according to human standards to proclaim his message and to accomplish his will. God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:21). It is such a mystery that God picks that which man has rejected, that which is unpleasant in the sight of man and out of it he creates something extraordinary. Consider a few of these stories…
Woman at the Well- John 4:1-42
Jesus defied all odds when he interacted with the Samaritan woman who was at the well. She was considered an outcast in her community. She even fetched water by herself at noon because it was the hottest time of the day and nobody else would usually be there. She was truly an outcast. To worsen things, Jews and Samaritans did not associate. But here is Jesus embracing this woman and even engaging her in a conversation. The outcome of this was tremendous in that the Samaritan woman not only believed but also many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony. Jesus stayed two days with the Samaritans and many more became believers. Jesus took interest in the lowly and despised.
Zacchaeus- Luke 19:1-9
Tax collectors were detested amongst the Jews. But as Jesus entered Jericho, he called Zacchaeus who had climbed a tree to see him and asked him to come down immediately. He even told him that he would come to his house. When people saw this they began to mutter saying that Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner. Zacchaeus on the other hand stood up and said to the Lord that he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and that if he had cheated anybody out of anything he would pay back four times the amount. Salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus. Jesus did not bother himself with what the people said but was only on the despised, Zacchaeus.
Paul
Then there is the great testimony of Saul of Tarsus who was a persecutor of the church of Christ. He hated Christians with a passion. Christians were beaten, imprisoned or even killed for talking about Jesus because of this man. However his transformation came on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians there. He was blinded by a light from heaven and was instructed to go to Ananias who would touch him and restore his sight. His life completely changed after meeting Jesus Christ. He was later known as Paul and he became a missionary zealous for the work of God. He travelled to different cities testifying the good news of God’s grace and is credited with writing over ten epistles in the bible. Once again Jesus cared for the despised and unpleasant in the sight of man.
Other Examples
There are many more testimonies of people God used to achieve his purpose in the bible. People who the world thought they were unworthy. Gideon was the least in his clan and family, David was the youngest in his family and his dad didn’t even consider him to be anointed as king, Joseph was scorned by his brothers such that they sold him but God transformed all of them to great men and used them to achieve his greater will.
God can do the same for each one of us. You might be a sinner and an enemy of God and think that you won’t be accepted or nobody will listen to you. You feel despised. A sin you have committed might hold you back and discourage you but Jesus is reaching out to you today. The transforming power of God’s love is not only for the characters in the bible it is for you also. You can become a friend of God by believing in him and obeying him. Repent and renounce your sins today like Zacchaeus, trust and obey God like Paul and go proclaim the name of Jesus like the Samaritan woman. If you are in Christ you are a new creation and the old goes away. God loves you and he will transform you because he loves the despised and rejected.
