Extraordinary?
2004 : Week 22  |  Website Version  

Our verse today is short but challenging to Christians trying to lead a life of faith. We’re told that, ‘God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul’; what about our lives? Is God using us in an extraordinary manner? Are our lives filled with excitement and thoughts that anything is possible, or has our faith started to waiver? Has our focus shifted away from God, due to the hardships of life?

If we read today’s verse again, we realize that the great works Paul was involved in were the result of God working through him:

	11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul…
	Acts 19:11 (NASB)

The focus of the verse is not Paul, but God. It is God who is performing the extraordinary miracles. Paul’s strength is not his own; he could not perform miracles by his own power; therefore, all the glory for them must go to God. If the Lord wants to perform a miracle, He can use many different people to do so. Other times, the Lord will not use humans in the process. Either way, God must still get all the glory, since He creates the miracle. Be it Moses parting the Red Sea or Paul healing someone on a missionary journey, God remains the focus.

When you read the Apostle Paul’s writings and read about his life, you see that his calling by God, his obedience, endurance and passion set him apart. He is an example of how we are to live and act as Christians; he was a servant of God, and he was proud to be one:

	1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,  2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures…
	Romans 1:1-2 (NASB)

Paul saw his role as a servant of God as the highest occupation. He was preaching the Gospel of Christ the King. In obedience to God, Paul worked hard at whatever the Lord called him to do. If that meant he was to go on a missionary journey, then Paul went, and God blessed his obedience. If it meant preaching to a crowd of people, Paul obeyed and God blessed his sermons. Paul let himself be used by God in an extraordinary manner, and the result was extraordinary.

So we come back to the point where we started in this devotion, are we allowing God to use us? If the story of our lives was written, would anyone pen that God had done extraordinary things through us? Have we accepted ordinary in the place of extraordinary? Are we serving God, or have we found that too hard a calling?

We, everyone one of us, can do extraordinary things: not in our own power but in the power of Jesus Christ. Extraordinary deeds, yet undone, await you as you read this: the person at work still waiting to hear the Gospel, your drunken friend who hasn’t heard there is a better way, the broken and lonely that see no purpose for their lives. How precious would the words of God be to them, if they heard them? How wonderful would it be if they repented of their sins and accepted Jesus as their Savior? We cannot save these people, but God can. Perhaps God could use us in some way to share the Gospel with them. First though, we must be willing to serve God and be obedient to Him. If we lay down our lives, maybe God will allow our eyes to witness extraordinary miracles.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today and always…