Superdogs

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:09] Welcome to today's weekday podcast with Chuck Allen. [00:00:13] Settle in with a cup of encouragement as Chuck unpacks how God chooses to use underdogs as superdogs. [00:00:20] Hi, everybody, and welcome again to the weekday podcast. I'm Chuck Allen. And you know, there's something deeply moving about an underdog story, something that resonates in our collective consciousness. I believe that when we witness someone overcome, like, ridiculously tremendous odds, we're just drawn to that narrative. I mean, if you look across movies, novels, the story of underdog succeeding, they're like the best stories. I mean, it's rocky, it's, you know, it's just so many stories like that. We're drawn to a narrative like that because that, that narrative reminds us of what's possible when courage comes face to face with opportunity. But have you ever noticed that God seems particularly fond of the underdog? That throughout the course of history, divine strategy has consistently involved choosing the most improbable candidates to carry out the most important missions? [00:01:21] When you think about that, I think it's important and profound for each of us to recognize what it means in our own life. [00:01:29] The biblical record, as you look back over at underdogs and what that means reads like a masterclass. And, well, just like heroes, like super crazy, unlikely heroes. When you think about Moses, he tells God In Exodus 4, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and I stammer. I mean, that's Moses. Good grief. And yet this guy with a speech impediment would become the voice that confronted Pharaoh and delivered an entire nation. And we still remember that, and we remember him and we understand who he became as an underdog. When you think about Gideon hiding in the wine press threshing wheat so the Midianites wouldn't steal it. When the angel comes to him and addresses him as mighty warrior, Gideon responds with like, disbelief. Who, me? Are you talking about my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? He says, look at me. My clan's the weakest in Manasseh and I'm, I'm the runt of the litter. It's not exactly confidence declaration of someone who seems and believes or sees themselves as a world changing person. [00:02:46] And yet these are precisely the people that God chooses. [00:02:51] I just wonder if we've ever stopped to think, why is that? [00:02:56] I believe the answer lies in something Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians. In the message translation, it says, take a good look, friends at who you were. Think about that. Take a look, friends at who you were when you got called into this life. Now he's talking about being called into this life as a Jesus follower. I don't see many of the brightest and the best among you, nor many influential. Not many from the high society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses? [00:03:33] He chose these nobodies to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies. [00:03:40] That is. That's a powerful word, especially when you put it into God's divine economy. [00:03:46] How God values and works. In our world, in our achievement oriented culture, we're conditioned to believe that influence belongs to those with the right credentials, the right connections, the right appearance. We celebrate the strongest, we celebrate the smartest, the most articulate. And there's nothing wrong with excellence. I'm not trying to poo poo on that. I'm just trying to say God seems to operate on a totally different criteria, which should be refreshing to all of us. God consistently chooses people who would never be selected if we humans were doing the casting. [00:04:23] I mean, you look at David being chosen as king, anointed by Samuel, and Samuel looks at his older brother and says, surely this is the Lord's anointed. I mean, he walked like a leader, look like a leader, talk like a leader. [00:04:39] But Samuel hears God say, looks aren't everything. [00:04:43] That's good to know, isn't it? And of course, God chooses the youngest, the run of the litter again, the one so insignificant that his own dad didn't even bother to include him in the lineup. [00:04:54] So what does this mean for us? What significance does that pattern hold for us today? [00:05:01] Well, it means that none of us are disqualified from making a profound difference in this world. [00:05:07] Whatever our inadequacies, whatever our limitations or past failures are, these aren't obstacles to God's purpose. They might actually be prerequisites toward it. Mother Teresa, who started with nothing but a calling to serve the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, said, I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. [00:05:30] She got it. She got it perfectly. [00:05:33] You know, friends, today I want to encourage you to embrace your underdog status. Whatever area of inadequacy, you feel most acutely what it. Whether it's your parenting, your career, your relationships, your, your earning power, your spiritual journey, that greatest weakness or failure you've had, maybe your stammering speech like Moses, or your insignificance like Gideon, or your youth and inexperience like David? [00:06:00] Well, they're not disqualifications in God's extraordinary economy, my friend. They might be your greatest qualifications. And in a world, we're just in desperate need for you to believe this. Because when underdogs embrace their calling by God, history changes, communities transform, hope is restored, and the world is set right. Thanks for joining me on today's weekday podcast. This is Chuck Allen, and thanks for letting me just share a little bit of what God thinks about underdogs. God bless you. Have a great day.