Day 2 – God Uses Ordinary People To Accomplish His Work

God Uses Ordinary People To Accomplish His Work – Day 2 – November 25, 2018

Today is Day 2 of our 30 Day Spiritual Adventure of getting to know and then actively praying for Northern Thailand Impact Ministry (NTIM) and all of the various unreached people groups in and around Northern Thailand. Please join us and invite your friends to join us for this great time of seeking the face of God on behalf of millions who have never heard the message of our Lord Jesus.

Henry Blackaby, the author of the book Experiencing God, is known for helping the Western Church understand the truth that when God is about to do something extra ordinary, He looks to see if He can find some ordinary person whose heart belongs to God and who will be obedient and do the thing God wants to be done. We see this when we look at the life of Abraham, or the life of Noah, or the life of Moses, and the lives of many men and women God used in the Bible.

God’s Word says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His….” 2 Chronicles 16:9.

When God finds someone who is willing to do what God wants to get done, God extends an invitation to that person to join Him in what God is doing. I will be the first to tell you that I do not think of myself as anything special or having anything special to give God. But for whatever reason, I believe that God extended a special invitation to me (Michael Johnson) and my family some 21 years ago while I was on a business trip to Thailand for Sharp Manufacturing Company of America. I am an ordinary guy from Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the USA and do not have anything special about me except that I have given my heart to Jesus and been touched by an extra ordinary God and am willing to be used for God’s purposes. I was only in Thailand for a few days on that business trip some 21 years ago, but I was in Thailand long enough to realize that the message of Jesus was not reaching most Thai people.

On that short business trip, I did not meet one Christian. I did not see one church. I did not see any evidence that the Thai people had a chance to hear the most important story of Jesus ever told. That realization broke my heart and God began to speak to my heart about joining God in bringing this message of hope to the Thai people. Shortly after that trip, following many confirmations that God was leading us to move to Thailand and serve the Thai people, our family resigned from our cushy

jobs, sold our house, cars, etc. and boarded a plane bound for Thailand. We landed in Thailand on January 13, 1999 and have served the Lord here in Thailand since that time without wavering. Here is a picture of our family before we left for the field while we were at the missionary learning center in Virginia.

God truly wants to use ordinary people like you and me, but we must be willing to make our lives available for Him to use them. God isn’t interested in us coming up with some great thing we want to do for God. No, God is more interested in us being willing to embrace the great plans He already has for our lives. It reminds me of when Isaiah said to the Lord, “Here I am Lord, Send me.” In other words, “Lord, if you want me to go, I am willing. Whatever you want from my life, I am willing to do that because I love you and because I recognize that your plans are far better than my plans.”

Prayer Example: “Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for placing a little of your love for the various Thai people groups in the hearts of the Johnson family. Please continue to lead them and guide them as they seek to lead the work of NTIM on the field. Thank you for the way you have used them to build bridges to the hearts of Thai people that have already led to hundreds of people becoming the first persons in their families to follow Jesus. Help them to understand your plans for reaching these nations – these unreached people groups – in and around Northern Thailand. We ask you to help them to follow your plans and to encourage others to join you in what you want to do through NTIM in the days ahead. We also pray that you would be pleased to call out others to go and serve You through NTIM. We pray that you would lead some of your people to become financial partners investing in what you are doing in Thailand through NTIM. The fields are ripe for the harvest but the laborers are truly few. Please raise up others to go and join you in what you are doing in and through NTIM and their partners. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.”