One morning I had breakfast with a dad in our church who was going through a divorce.  We didn’t really know each other but had hooked up during a children’s ministry event he had attended with his child.  After listening to his story, I felt like God had given me some things I needed to say, some hard things that would be difficult for him to hear.  If he took it to heart, it had the potential to change the entire trajectory of his life.

As soon as I laid it out, I knew it hit him right between the eyes.  After an awkward silence he said, “Wow, that was really deep.  I needed to hear that.  I can’t believe you’re the Children’s Minister.”  In other words, “Where did that come from?  I thought you were an idiot.”

I smiled and thought of a Bible verse that 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, so that no one may boast before him.”

The Bible is full of jokers like me, people who on their own are lucky to change their socks let alone change someone’s life.   David was a nobody before God used him to take down a giant.  Gideon was a coward.  Moses was a murderer.  Abraham was a liar.  Noah got drunk.  Joseph was arrogant.  Paul beat up Christians.  Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was.  Not exactly a league of moral superstars, huh?

Yet each one of them ended up changing the world, and nobody ever saw it coming. 

I love how God loves to use these “least-likelies,” people who have no business being able to say things and do things that God uses to change lives.  Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

My friend was right.  Sometimes I am an idiot.  What I spoke into his life that morning came out of nowhere.  It certainly didn’t come from any worldly wisdom that I possess.   At the end of the day, when God uses someone like me, there is no mistake who gets the credit. 

So beware of the fools, the weaklings, the lowlifes and the despised who you may encounter this week.  They might be my fellow “least-likelies,” and you never know how God might use one of them to mess with your head . . . in a good way.  Who knows?  We may even invite you to join up.