Recently I have heard two sermons on successive Sundays which have dove-tailed together in my mind and caused me to ask some questions of myself. Perhaps the following thoughts will resonate with you too.

What was it about Abram that made God choose him to father a nation more numerous than the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore? To be a blessing to the nations? What was so special about him? Why would one of his brothers not be able to fulfill the same role?

Nothing much is said about Abram until he is called by God. We know he had two brothers, Nahor and Haran, and their father, Terah, lived for seventy years. We know he was married to Sarai and they had no children. We are told his brother Haran died and his nephew, Lot, accompanied Abram and Sarai when they left their home and journeyed with Terah to Haran – a new land.

Abram’s life was hard. He left all that was familiar to him. He and his wife were childless. He lost a brother. His mother is not mentioned, so maybe she died too. He was an ordinary man, living through trials which are familiar to us, even thousands of years later. Change, death, grief.  

God chose him and empowered him.

And then, why Timothy? A young man, raised by a grandmother and mother who were Christ-followers, their faith instilled into him from a young age. What about his father’s faith? How did he, a boy, resist his father’s influence and follow the women in his family on their faith journey? Why did God choose him to be Paul’s companion? Paul held him in great affection, calling him ‘my dearly beloved son.’ And yet he wasn’t Paul’s son. He was taught by Paul and left behind when the apostle moved on to lead the church in Ephesus. His church was commended by Jesus for its perseverance in John’s Revelation.

God chose him and empowered him.

Two men of their time. Two ordinary men facing the trials of life just as we do today.

How often do we ask a similar question?

Why me?

There is nothing special about me. I am an ordinary person. Why would God use me to change the world? To declare His message? How can I make a difference? Surely there are others who are better equipped than I to do something about the situation that keeps cropping up in my mind, that situation which bothers me. Why would God call me?

But perhaps we need to hear Jesus’ words to His disciples as He stood on the beach that spring morning and said to the tired men “Cast you net on the other side of the boat.”

Perhaps we need to look at the situation in a new way.

Perhaps we need to ask a different question.

Why not me?

Is God choosing you today, ready to empower you for work He has planned that only you can do?

What do you think?