Luke 1:30-32 ESV
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] HE WILL BE GREAT and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David,
I have known and know so many Christians who live with a sense of failure or insignificance as far as the purposes of God are concerned. They expected their life to be different and their impact to be greater. They may have even received prophetic words from others that their lives for Christ or their ministries would be powerful and significant. Maybe you heard that you were called to be a world-changer, and yet you find yourself mainly changing diapers and chasing toddlers or stewarding very small ministries numerically. Maybe you feel like you’ve been stuck in the mundane and routine of life and that your dreams to be a world-changer for Jesus have not turned out like you thought they would. I see this among pastors often. They read books by authors who are megachurch pastors, or they go hear conference speakers who have very large ministries, and wonder why they don’t have the same kind of anointing on their lives and ministries. The term “Player” is often used by powerful people in the world to describe someone who is very successful and has great influence. Unfortunately, I have also heard Christian leaders describe other Christian leaders as “Players” because their churches or ministries very visible and large numerically. Often, in Christian circles, only the “Players” have a real voice. This is such a tragedy that not only grieves the Holy Spirit but unwittingly reinforces in the minds of many that they can only determine whether or not they are successful or great in the kingdom by comparing yourselves to others.
Let me say this very loud and clear. If you are walking in the Spirit while changing diapers or stewarding a very small ministry numerically, you are great in God’s eyes and in the kingdom of heaven. People who walk in the Spirit are the true “Players” from God’s perspective, and their impact and influence on the world extend far beyond what they can see with their physical eyes. I remember years ago meeting a Christian Masaai mom who was living in a small dung hut in southern Kenya. She was elderly, extremely poor, and was sitting alone in her one-room hut. She lived in total obscurity. She never wrote a book, never ministered at a conference, but the Lord spoke clearly to me as if I had heard His audible voice, that the woman sitting in front of me was great in the kingdom of heaven, and her influence was world-changing. I’ve never thought about success or greatness in the kingdom the same since then.
Jesus did some amazing things during his 33 years on the earth, but in the end, all of his disciples abandoned him. Only John, after initially fleeing, came back and stood with Mary and the other women at the foot of the cross. The leader among his disciples denied him three times. His treasurer stole from him and ultimately betrayed him. The crowds, among whom he had displayed the goodness of God with compassion and signs and wonders, called for his crucifixion. He never traveled beyond the borders of one tiny country, and in the end, he died in obscurity at a very young age. Obviously, clothed in our humanity, the incarnational Christ was great and was a world changer even though from the outside looking in at the cross, everything turned out different than people expected. He appeared to be a failure.
If you are in Christ, and you are abiding in him, then you are “great,” and you are being a world-changer though you may not be able to see it clearly with your physical eyes. If you are walking in the Spirit and doing God’s will, then there’s never been anyone who’s ever lived whose life and or ministry has had more significance or has been greater than yours. You are special because you are in Christ, and what is special about him is now special about you, and everything he does is special (and therefore everything you do in Him is special), and its greatness can’t be determined by the nature or size of the activity. Its greatness can only be measured by the origin of the activity, and if you’re walking in the Spirit, then all of your activity has its origin in Jesus, and therefore you are participating in His greatness. Everything Jesus does carries the same level of anointing, whether it’s playing with your children or ministering to 2, or 2000. Everything Jesus does is great.