Monday, July 20, 2009

God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary ThingsBy Robert Moment

The power of God is unlimited. God is not limited in any way by your education, economic status, race or social standing.

There is no such thing as the wrong side of the tracks with God. I think it was Jim Collins who wrote the book "Good to Great," which said, "It is a sin to be good when you can be great." The power of God is unlimited. God is not limited in any way by your education, economic status, race or social standing. Those are artificial limitations that only matter to the world, not to the Lord.

If you say, "God, I am available to You and I submit and surrender to Your will for my life," something amazing will start to happen in your life because God will use you to do His will and purpose. God will take the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary! Develop a habit of being what God knows you can be and surrender fully to His will. Remember that His view is the long view of the world and His goals are not focused on the little picture. God can do extraordinary things using ordinary people in seemingly small ways.

There was a young girl at the turn of the century outside of Philadelphia who was crying near a small church when the pastor walked by. When he asked her what was wrong, she sobbed that there hadn't been enough room in the Sunday School class for her. Seeing her filthy clothes, the pastor guessed that she may have been turned away for other reasons. He marched her back in and found a place for her in the class. She listened and loved the Bible stories she heard each Sunday after that.

Two years later, the little girl died. When the pastor came to make final arrangements, he discovered a coin purse with her belongings. Inside the coin purse was 57 cents and a slip of paper that said, "To make the church bigger so more kids can go to the Sunday School."

The pastor told the girl's story that Sunday in church, and challenged his deacons to raise enough money to build a bigger church. The newspapers picked up the story. And a realtor offered a parcel of land worth thousands of dollars to build the church on. When told that the church couldn't afford the asking price, he offered to sell it to them for 57 cents.

It would seem impossible to build a church with 57 cents, but that didn't stop one little girl from trying to create a miracle. Today you can go to Temple Baptist church of Philadelphia and Temple University. Go visit the Sunday School building next to Good Samaritan Hospital, where there is more than enough room for everyone. In one room you will see the picture of a young girl who started it all with 57 cents. Alongside it is the picture of the Reverend Dr. Russell Conwell, who multiplied that 57 cents through countless others.

God had taken the very ordinary donation of a poor child, less than a dollar, and turned it into something extraordinary! It became the driving force that turned the heart of a landowner, motivated the revival of a church and eventually founded a University! All because an ordinary young minister made sure an ordinary young girl went to Sunday School one ordinary morning.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
- Philippians 4:13


God always sees what is inside of us. We all have gifts, talents and opportunities that He can shape into miraculous moments. We must stop looking at what we don't have and start looking at what God can do in our lives.