A Man Just Like Us

“Elijah was a man just like us.” James 5:17

We would love to think people who move in miracles, claim to hear God’s voice clearly and fulfill great destinies, are people that are somehow wired completely differently to us.

When we see impressive people I wonder if we’re tempted to think, “They probably float dreamily in a heavenly encounter every night. They glow. They feel good all the time. They perspire sweet aromas and never lose their tempers.”

Well, the truth is, God always has and always will use very normal people just like you and me. People who lose it, have bad hair days and who don’t always know if they’re “doing it right!” People who get depressed, feel fakes, have fears, weaknesses, relational fall-outs and sin occasionally.

Elijah bravely confronted hundreds of enemies and saw God move powerfully. But then he got terrified of one woman, and ended depressed and suicidal in an embarrassing pity-party! The same is true of most of our biblical heroes: Noah got drunk, Jacob was a deceiver, Joseph was a show-off, Moses stammered, David was a moral failure, Solomon was wise but full of lust, Thomas was a doubter, Paul got into terrible arguments and Peter struggled with fear on and off throughout his whole life.

Yet this list of people had God’s ear, saw God transform their worlds, they shaped history with God’s help and learned to grasp His grace even in the midst of their brokenness.

The glory of the Gospel is simply this: God takes broken and failing humans, and makes them remarkable!

He adds His “super” to our “natural” and we become supernatural. He adds His “extra” to our “ordinary” and we become extraordinary.

In fact, have you ever thought, that in some ways, your weaknesses actually qualify you for salvation by grace? The whole reason He died, is so that He could show off His incredible love and power by making something glorious out of your brokenness! All you have to do is trust Him!

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ … it is by grace you have been saved … through faith, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast.” Ephesians 2:4,8

Let’s drop the feeble excuse in our heads, that all our spiritual heroes have some heritage that sets them apart. Some unattainable secret that we could never find. You have His presence, His word and His voice. That means you have access to all the resources and power of God – stop focusing on your failings and start enjoying His presence, knowing His word and listening to His voice. That is ALL you need to live an extraordinary supernatural life, that turns the world upside down for the purposes of God!

God is not limited by my humanity—He works through it. The very places I feel weak or unqualified are the very places He chooses to display His power. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

God is not looking for perfection—He’s looking for surrender. He takes my humanity and fills it with divinity. He takes my natural and breathes supernatural. He formed me, knows me, and still chooses to use me. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

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