Biblical heroes are
normal man like us. They have their own pattern of weakness, sin and failures.
They are heroes just because of God’s grace reaching to them. God is wise that
he can use weak, imperfect people to accomplish extraordinary thing. Sometimes,
we look at ourselves, and feel discouraged because of our failures. Cheer up
friends! For God is smarter than us. He can accomplish wonders through us and
in us when we surrender our life to him.
Moses is often taken as an example of
bad-tempered biblical hero because he
killed an Egyptian, broke the tablets of stone, and infamously struck the rock
to produce water for the Israelites. He faced consequences for those anger– 40
years exile, 40 days in Sinai again, and the detention in on Mount Nebo.
However, the Bible declares him to be the most humble man on the face of the
earth (Num.12:3). Moreover, we see him appearing with Elijah on the
Mount of Transfiguration having a conversation
with our Lord. The overall picture of Moses life is a life of obedience, faith,
and meekness.
We see our Lord
Jesus cleansing the temple with a whip
of cords, and overturning the tables.
Anger itself is not a sin. In fact, we should be very angry at sins. If
Jesus drove out those people in anger, may we not be a hypocrite to think we
are good guys when we don’t raise our voice against sins!
Apostles John and James were
known as the sons of thunder but Apostle John, the son of thunder has become to
be widely known as the “Apostle of Love” in
the latter days of his life.
Biblical heroes are
interesting because God in His greatness always used
them despite their weaknesses. God used their weak-points, even their sins for
good because He is sovereign, even over sins too. He used their downfalls. Likewise, He can use our weaknesses too, maybe – fear, gossiping, pride, bad habits.
Nothing is too hard for Him. Apostle Paul said in 2Corinthians 12:9, that he
would boast in his infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him.
We do not have
anything to offer God. All we can offer Him is our sins because nothing good
dwells in us except sin. In fact, Cross is what we have to offer God. I am
absolutely convinced that God uses our pride, temper, fear, (you name anything
and it might fit in) for good if we surrender to Him. Not that it is the best
way, but despite it, because He is wise,
good and just.
I do not know how many years it took
John to be known as the Apostle of Love, but I know he is the longest Apostle
ever lived. When we trust God, He uses us in His grace in a way we can never
imagine because He is always smarter than us.