I’m pretty average.
I mean it. That’s not false humility or anything. I’m legitimately very average.
Most people like to think of themselves as “above average” (according to a number of surveys).
Not me. I’m as average as they come.
I barely broke a 3.0 GPA (in high school or college). I was on the varsity basketball team – but I didn’t start. I was second or third off the bench. I was a student council representative, but I never ran for office – and I for sure wouldn’t have won if I had. I wasn’t popular or unpopular. I lived in the middle.
My middle brother was the smart, hard-working one and my younger brother was the artistic, creative one.
I was, well, nothing in particular.
That used to bother me.
But I felt a lot better when I read about the disciples Jesus chose.
They were pretty ordinary. A handful of them caught fish for a living. One exploited his own people by collecting exorbitant taxes for Rome. Another was a militant knucklehead that wanted to overthrow Rome by force.
(Honestly, Jesus choosing those two to be His disciples and then calling them to love one another is a lesson in its own right.)
Here’s the point.
They weren’t the best and the brightest. In fact, they were quite average.
If Jesus could use guys like that to change the world, then maybe He could use me too.
Think about it this way.
A paintbrush is quite an ordinary thing.
But in the hands of a capable artist, it can be used to create a masterpiece.
Most of us are pretty ordinary.
But an ordinary person in the hands of an extraordinary God can change the world.
If you feel ordinary, join the club. If you feel insignificant or insecure, get in line.
But – in the hands of a master Artist – what might God do in and through you? How might He turn your life into a masterpiece if only you’d submit to the guidance of His brush?