A Devotion from Jedidiah Matthews in When God Leads

In When God Leads, Book 3 of my When Series, Jedidiah Matthews stands before a room of men to lead a devotion. His hands tremble as he opens his notebook. His voice feels small at first.

But the truth he shares is solid.

He begins with Scripture:

“‘But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, no flesh should glory in His presence.’
1 Corinthians 1:27–29.”

Then he says quietly:

“When I read that, I think: That’s me. I’m one of His nobodies.”

The Men Jesus Chose

Jedidiah reminds the room that Jesus did not seek out the powerful.

He called fishermen. Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
He called a tax collector, Matthew, someone people did not trust.

Acts 4 tells us the religious leaders looked at Peter and John and saw “uneducated and untrained men.”

Those were the men Jesus chose.

Men nobody expected much from.

God’s pattern has never depended on human strength. He chooses the weak so that the glory cannot be confused.

A Flashlight in the Dark

Jedidiah speaks from experience.

Before he came to Christ, he was living in an abandoned house in January. Hungry. Filthy. Hopeless. All he had were two old sleeping bags to ward off the cold and a little flashlight to get him through the dark.

He did not pray for rescue.
He did not seek God.
He was surviving.

Someone saw a tiny beam of light through a curtainless window.

Not the light of faith.

Just a cheap flashlight in the hands of a kid who did not think he mattered.

“But God saw me… even when I didn’t see Him.”

Then he reads:

“‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.’
2 Chronicles 16:9.”

“My heart wasn’t loyal yet,” he admits.
“But God was already working.”

God does not wait for spiritual strength before He moves. He is already working long before we recognize Him.

Our Sufficiency Is from God

Jedidiah continues:

“‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,’
2 Corinthians 3:5.”

“I had nothing. God had everything.”

He reminds the men of Christ’s promise:

“‘teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.
Matthew 28:20.”

And again:

“‘for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.’
Luke 21:15.”

God still uses nobodies today.

Men who think they do not matter.
Men who feel too small, too weak, or too sinful.

Because He wants the world to see His power, not ours.

When Weakness Becomes Strength

Jedidiah closes his notebook and says:

“‘Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’
2 Corinthians 12:10.”

“God’s strength shows up best in broken men.”

Then he concludes:

“If God can take a nobody like me… a boy hiding in an abandoned house, not believing He existed, and turn him into a man who gets to stand here today and pray with you… then He can use any man in this room.

Not because we are strong.

But because He is.”

What This Means

God chooses the weak so that His strength is unmistakable and no flesh may boast.

If you feel unqualified, Scripture does not treat that as a disadvantage.

It treats it as a beginning.

A Prayer

Dear Lord,
Thank You for choosing the weak things of the world to display Your strength. Guard us from pride and teach us dependence. Where we feel small, remind us that You are strong. Where we feel unqualified, remind us that our sufficiency is from You. Use our lives so that Your glory, not ours, is seen.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.