LifeDate Spring 2025 – For Such a Time
by Grace MacPherson
God rarely uses extraordinary people.
There was nothing extraordinary about Esther.
On the surface, she was an ordinary girl, forced into a political marriage with the king who had conquered her nation and divorced his previous wife, a king so powerful he could have killed her for coming into his presence uninvited. To all appearances, she was completely helpless. She had no hidden skills, no secret talents. Nothing but the beauty that caught the king’s eye in the first place and a tenacious faith in the God of her fathers.
Esther was absolutely ordinary, and yet God used her to accomplish extraordinary things. All throughout history, God has worked through ordinary people. He made a barren woman the mother of the nation of Israel. A runaway prince led His people out of slavery in Egypt. A shepherd boy united a kingdom against idolatrous enemies. A hot-tempered fisherman and a self-righteous Pharisee spread the Gospel throughout the world.
All through Scripture and history, God rarely used extraordinary people. Instead, even for the most miraculous deeds, He used everyday, ordinary people.
In one sense, this is deeply, even brutally, humbling. God didn’t place us where He did because we have some special talent or ability. None of us is the best at what we do. God created us—we can’t awe Him with our extraordinary gifts.
But at the same time, this understanding of ourselves and of God is unspeakably comforting. You do not carry the weight of the world—He does. And it is a world He has already died to save.
There was nothing extraordinary about the teenagers gathered in a church basement one hot summer afternoon. Nothing about their hands, sometimes deft and sometimes clumsy as they wove three thousand bracelets to be sold in support of mothers yearning to protect their unborn babies. But God used those teenagers in that humid church basement.
There was nothing extraordinary about the group of college students gathered to hear a professor speak about the value of life. They weren’t a collection of star athletes, of scholarship recipients, of anything else extraordinary—just an ordinary group of young men and women. And God used them, too.
There was nothing extraordinary about the first-grade girl on the school playground. Nothing extraordinary in her small arms as she cradled her baby doll as tenderly as she cradles her baby brother every Sunday in church. Nothing extraordinary in her expression as she took off her jacket and bundled it around her baby to shield it from the icy December wind. Just a little girl rocking a plastic doll—yet God will use her to do extraordinary things. Whether that is as a faithful wife and mother or an eloquent writer or a tireless advocate for those with no voice, I don’t know.
But God made a shepherd boy a king and a captured girl a queen. He made a harlot and a virgin mothers of the Messiah.
Your story might not look as extraordinary as Esther’s. It might not be as exciting as David’s or as tumultuous as Rahab’s or as terrifying as Mary’s. But you don’t have to be extraordinary for God to work through you. He can accomplish great things through something as unassuming as prayer or as simple as a meal for a new mother.
Esther did great things not because she was extraordinary, not because she sought out fame and glory, but because of her childlike, tenacious faith in the God who does extraordinary things through ordinary people.
Realistically, most of us will never be more than ordinary, but that doesn’t mean we’re useless. God works through the ordinary, the mundane, and the commonplace. He worked through Esther, and He works through you to bless others in ways you may never know.
Nothing about Esther was extraordinary. Nothing was special. But God used her to save an entire nation from genocide. How He will use you, I have no idea. But for all of history, what God accomplishes through ordinary people has never fallen short of extraordinary.
Grace MacPherson lives in Casper, Wyoming, with her family. She is the author of the fantasy novels The King’s Sword and Domitian. You can read more about her work and stay updated on her writing at authorgracemacpherson.com.