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My daughter Lori and I stopped to browse among the boxes of plants in front of a large store. “Oh, Mommy, look at those!” she cried. And then her attention was caught by other flowers she thought even prettier.

Stopping beside some boxes of blue ageratum, I selected one. “Get me a box of flowers too, Mommy,” Lori pleaded.

“All right,” I said, “tell me what you want.”

After much vacillation, Lori finally settled on white petunias with dark purple  stripes. They were pretty, but since they were hybrid petunias, they had no fragrance. After we planted them, it took quite a while for those hybrid petunias to take hold. I also began to think it was going to be a race between the slugs and the flowers! But we finally did get a few petunias to show their pretty faces.

In August we moved to a new house and I wanted to take along some instant beauty. So I carefully transplanted some flowers in front of our new home. Several of the hybrid petunias went along.

The following spring I discovered that five petunia plants had sprung up on their own, perhaps seeded from those we had bought the year before. But petunias revert to their natural form when they seed themselves. I wondered what color these would be.

These plants were vital and healthy, with multitudes of limbs and flowers. They were much more prolific than their parents had been. The first one to blossom had big, almost white flowers. The next one was purple with just a very slight pinkish tinge. The third was lavender. And what lovely delicate fragrance they exuded! How much better these are than the hybrids, I thought.

The lowly are chosen of God

These flowers reminded me of First Corinthians 1:27, 28, which says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are.”

Indeed God uses those to the greatest extent who willingly stoop to minister even as Jesus did. He chose to use for His glory shoemakers like William Carey, who evangelized India, and fishermen like Peter, James, and John, and the unassuming seamstress named Dorcas, whom God restored to life when Peter prayed.

Each of us, no matter how little knowledge, education, or talent we may feel we have, has a special place to fill in God’s work. Like William Carey, we can study God’s Word while we’re working. Like Peter, James, and John, we can fellowship with the Lord day by day until we are so like Him that we may “turn the world upside down” as the early Christians did. Like Dorcas, we can minister to our fellow Christians in lowly ways, and others can see the power and love of Christ in us!

When our Lord washed His disciples’ feet, He said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:15-17, NIV).

Questions: Why does God so often choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise? Can you think of an example in your experience where this has been true?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Have you ever stopped to realize how many of God’s special people had lowly backgrounds?  Consider the following:
Joseph was a slave and prisoner.
Moses and David were shepherds.
Esther and Daniel were displaced persons of a despised race.
Joseph was a carpenter, and Mary a small-town girl.
Simeon and Anna were little-known prophets.
Peter, James, and John were fishermen.
Dorcas was a seamstress.

Because these people put God first in their lives, consider how God raised them up and used them:
Joseph became second to the Pharoah in ruling Egypt (Genesis 41:40-41).
Moses and David became rulers of Israel (Exodus 3:9-11; 1 Samuel 16:1, 11-13).
Daniel became prime minister of Babylon (Daniel 2:47-49).
Esther became queen of Persia and saved God’s people from extermination (Esther 8).
Joseph the carpenter was chosen to be the “stepfather” of the Son of God;     Mary was His mother (Luke 1:26-35).

Simeon and Anna were used of God to prophesy over the baby Jesus and proclaim who He was and what He came to earth to do (Luke 2:25-38).

Peter, James, and John became Jesus’ foremost disciples and intimate friends.  Peter and John wrote books of the Bible by inspiration of God (Matthew 17:1-3).

Dorcas was raised from the dead; many came to Christ because of this (Acts 9:36-42).

And then there was Jesus.  Although He was the Son of God, He was born in the lowliest of circumstances, in a manger, to a couple with little money.  There was neither fine hospital nor worldly acclaim such as given when a prince is born in England.  Only humble shepherds knelt by His manger to give Him homage.

Philippians 2:5-7 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

When God came as a man, He lived in no great palace as other kings do.  Instead, He said the foxes have holes and the birds nests, but He had no place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).

Then He gave Himself into the hands of His enemies to be viciously lashed, mocked, and spit upon.  He let them nail Him on a cross.  He, the Almighty God (Isaiah 9:6), humbly allowed this because He loved us and came to save us.

He is coming again to earth–as King of kings and Lord of lords.  And those who have humbly followed in His footsteps shall reign with Him!

Fill my heart with humble gratitude today, Lord. Thank you that You use the ordinary and the un-spectacular. Fill me with Your amazing Holy Spirit today and use me to accomplish Your will. In Jesus’ name I ask this, amen.

Questions: Why do you suppose God used so many “lowly” people to help fulfill his wishes here on earth?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: Hear today’s daily devotional, God’s Lowly People, read aloud on the Men’s Devotional Blog