“Sometimes it's the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.”

During our At the Movies series, Pastor Miles is taking a look at how every story always points us back to God. One thing I personally love to do is take a movie that wasn’t necessarily intended to have any sort of biblical undertones, and insert these insightful parallels into the storyline. (#jesusjuke)

I saw a movie where one of the characters said the quote above, and I thought that it was so beautiful that I typed it into my phone so that every time I open my “notes” I would see it. Do you have people in your life that you don't imagine very much of? The woman living in a low-income housing unit? The cousin that just can't get it together? The barista at your favorite coffee shop? Maybe sometimes you feel like it’s you.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Often times, we hear people refer to the disciples as your average nobodies. Just a few guys that started following Jesus and He decided to use them (of all people!) to change the world and spread the gospel. However, when you really look into the characteristics of these disciples, you’ll learn a lot! From the time Jesus got baptized and begin his ministry, He only had three years before his crucifixtion to fulfill His ministry here on earth. I think it’s safe to say that every move He made was strategic. Even down to those 12 “nobodies” that He chose! In Mark 1:16-19, we can read about the first disciples Jesus chose.

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

These were men with jobs. Having a job would imply that they were trustworthy, dedicated, hardworking and even reputable in their community. I love that Jesus chose people that were working an “average” job. Not average in the sense that it didn’t take skill, but average in the sense that they weren’t currently hosting crusades that saved thousands, or ending wars, or freeing people from slavery. They were being obedient in what they were called to at that time, which happened to be catching fish.

Then Jesus shows up and says, “Follow me” and they just do it! As far as the scriptures describe, there weren’t any questions asked. In fact, in the NKJ translation, it uses the word “immediately” to describe how quickly these men quit what they were doing to follow Him. Don’t you love that? I love that. I’m also intimidated by it. I’d love to think that if Jesus showed up in my office and said, “Hey stop what you’re doing and follow me,” that I’d immediately drop what I was doing to follow him, but if I’m being honest, I’d probably have a few questions. “Where are we going?” “What do you want me to do?” “Should I pack?” “What should I wear?” Does anyone else feel that way? I’m intimidated by the disciples’ faithfulness and obedience, but God isn’t intimidated by my fear and hesitation. In fact, He encourages me to press into that and lean into Him even more. He wants a willing heart.

More times than I'd like to my admit, my prayers sound something like, "Lord, I want to want to be obedient. I want to follow up, but sometimes it scares me." In my heart I know I desperately want to be used by God. All He asks of me is faithfulness and obedience. Faithfulness to trust that even when I can’t see it, He’s working. The faithfulness to trust that He can do something incredible through me (and you), even while working an {insert your “average” job here}. He asks for the obedience to be willing to step out in courage when He asks something of me that I’m not familiar or comfortable with.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:20 The MSG 

God can do more than we can imagine. He can use the people that nobody imagines will amount to anything because they are just fishermen, or they just work a minimum wage job or they are too socially awkward or too damaged by their past. Those people that nobody imagines anything of are the people that fill God with such anticipation as He sits on the edge of His mighty throne waiting for the right moment to do things beyond what any of us could imagine. The unimagined, through the unimaginable. Were the disciples ordinary? Sure. But Jesus saw beyond that. He saw potential in their “ordinary” qualities. So let us too, allow Jesus to develop potential in our “ordinary” qualities. May we have the faithfulness and obedience in our every day lives so that when Jesus tells us to “Follow Him”, we will seize the opportunity and allow Him to do something unimaginable through us.