-Abraham Lincoln-
Of all people in the scriptures, I identify with King David the most. I love the story of his life, his humanity, failings, struggles and, ultimately, his life of significance. I think that David often struggled with his place in life. He certainly did not feel adequate. In 1 Chronicles 17:16, he prays, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
Within a very brief period, David went from sitting on a hill watching his father’s sheep to King of Israel. He must have thought many times, “What am I doing here?” “Lord, why me; why not someone else?”
Think about it, in a very short period of time David went from:
- Throwing rocks at predators using the sling to kill Goliath
- Being led by his sheep in the pasture to leading God’s army in war
- Visiting with fellow shepherds on hillsides to eating with foreign kings at elegant banquet tables
- Wearing shepherds robes to being adored with kingly arraignment
- Being bossed around by his brothers to being ruler of Israel
I imagine if we were sitting next to someone who knew David as a boy, they may have said to us, “Who in the world would have known?”
John Newton was the son of a merchant ship commander. His mother died just before his seventh birthday, He took her death very hard. At age 11, he went to sea with his father and made six voyages with him. Later, he was forced into military service. He deserted, but was captured and publicly flogged and demoted. Finally, at his request, Newton was assigned to a slave ship, which took him to the coast of Sierra Leone.
Newton ultimately became captain of his own slave ship, where he gained a terrible reputation. It was reported that at times he was so wretched that even his crew regarded him as little more than an animal. Once he fell overboard and his ship's crew refused to drop a boat to him. Instead, they threw a harpoon at him, with which they dragged him back into the ship. However, God intervened in Newton's life and got his attention through a violent storm. The gale was so severe that all the livestock were washed overboard. The crew tied themselves to the ship to keep from being swept overboard. As he was attempting to steer the ship through the violent storm, he experienced what he was to refer to later as his "great deliverance." He recorded in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, "Lord, have mercy upon us." Later in his cabin, he reflected on what he had said and began to believe that God had addressed him through the storm and that grace had begun to work for him. For the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of that day as the day of his conversion, a day of humiliation in which he subjected his will to a higher power.
He decided to become a minister and after first denied, was finally ordained. He drew large congregations and influenced many, among them William Wilberforce, who would one day become a leader in the campaign for the abolition of slavery. Newton continued to preach until the last year of life, although he was blind by that time. At 82, shortly before he died he said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."
Newton often quoted 1 Chronicles 17:16, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
We know John’s testimony in the words he wrote,
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see.”
Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
Anyone who would have known John in his youth would have said, “Who would have known?”
In Matthew 4:18-20 we find the account of Jesus calling Simon (later Peter) and Andrew to follow him. “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once, they left their nets and followed him."
Sometimes I wonder what the observers were thinking when Jesus called Peter to be one of his core group of followers. If we were there, I am sure that we would have heard things such as, “Why him?” “He is choosing that loudmouth?” Peter may have been asking himself the same questions. However, this same impetuous, loudmouth fisherman went on to be one of the cornerstones of the church. I am sure that many later on said to themselves, “who would have known.”
You see, it is the same for all of us. According to I Corinthians, “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.”
God see things differently than we do. We see the here and now. We see limitations. We see the shortcomings in others and ourselves. God sees how things can be and what a person will become if they allow His grace to do its work.
I fear the thought of what my life would have become if not for God’s intervention. I am sure that is true of many of you as well. I wonder how many people are looking at us today and saying to themselves, “Who would have known."
Blessings,
d
