October 22, 2026

The Emphasis

1 Corinthians 1:27 – “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

At the county craft fair, a crowd gathered around a polished dining table with a deep, warm finish and perfectly fitted joints. People ran their hands along the smooth edges and asked what kind of hardwood it was. The woodworker smiled and pointed to a photo taped to the corner of his booth. It showed a stack of broken shipping pallets behind a warehouse, gray, cracked, and full of rusted nails. That was his raw material. The table had impressed everyone before they heard the story, but once they saw the photo, the praise shifted to the craftsman.

Scripture often seems to go out of its way to show the photo. Moses insisted he was slow of speech. Gideon called his clan the weakest in Manasseh and himself the least in his family, and David was still out in the field with the sheep, the overlooked youngest son, when Samuel came to anoint a king. Centuries later, the religious leaders looked at Peter and John and saw unschooled, ordinary men.

God even reduced Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men. He told Gideon plainly that with too many soldiers, Israel would boast that its own strength had saved it. Paul summed up the pattern when he wrote that God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong.

Believers who feel unqualified are in good company. Weakness never disqualifies anyone from God’s service, because His power shows most clearly through people who could never take the credit. When the Lord works through ordinary lives, the glory goes to the Craftsman.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, use my weakness to show Your strength so that You receive all the glory. Amen.

Reflection Question: What weakness have you been treating as a reason God couldn’t use you?