Simple People

Read Acts 4:13 

Peter and John are standing confidently before the religious leaders and they were amazed at the courage these men had.  They were also astonished that these two men, who were far from scholars, had no formal training and were not experts in the law had the wisdom that they had.  They were two average men who spent a few years with this Jesus of Nazareth.  

This passage always brings a smile to my face, because I see the paradox of God at work.  I can't help but think that God has a sense of humor.  These religious leaders, who spent their whole lives learning the Scriputres and the law looked on in amazemnt of these two men.  in this passage the religious leaders speak of John and Peter as "uneducated and ordinary men."  They were uneducated because they did not have formal rabbinical training.  They were ordinary in the sense that they were not experts in religion or the law.  They were simple men who had a bold faith in their God.  This is encouraging to me, because this is proof that God does work through ordinary people.  God is not looking for the best of the best to use to accomplish His will.  Instead He uses, as the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:27, "The foolish things of the world to shame the wise..."  

God does not necessarily choose philosophers, teachers and scholars to accomplish His work here on earth.  He may in some instances, but He typically uses the weak, base and foolish.  There are oridnary people throughout history  that God has used mightily like A.W. Tozer, D.L Moody and Charles Spurgeon who were all men without formal training in ministry.  These men, much like Peter and John, were ordinary people filled with the Holy Spirit and used by God.

Let the truth that God uses simple men and women like you and me for His glory and His Kingdom bring joy to our hearts.  God doesn't need our intellect, but He does desire to use each one of us to accomplish His will.  Never ever think that God cannot use you.