Some of the preachers I’ve known over the years have come from some unusual backgrounds: shrimpers, farmers, undertakers, and even a West Virginia coal miner. One fellow worker in the Lord’s kingdom worked as a garbage man before going into ministry. That’s right – he rode the backend of a garbage truck and picked up people’s garbage.
There are a couple of thoughts that come to mind from this garbage man’s life as he was transformed into a preacher for Jesus. One, of course, is that God does not care where you came from – He will use anyone who turns to Him in faithful repentance to serve Jesus. He used the sheepherder, Amos, to try to call His people baaaaaaack (☺) to faith. He took fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John and made them fishers of men. God can make great servants out of people who have faith in Jesus.
There is another thought that comes to mind: God uses seemingly insignificant people to accomplish great things. Moses was a sub-par communicator, but God used him to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage. David was just a shepherd boy, but he became the greatest king Israel ever had. And God uses a former garbage man to preach His word.
And then there is I Corinthians 12:22 where Paul writes, “On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” I don’t know who coined the phrase “God uses seemingly insignificant people to accomplish great things” but I love it.
Think about the importance of the garbage man. Let’s say you have a beautiful house with beautiful furnishings and furniture, but you have garbage stacked all over the place. Your backyard is a mess and the smell is terrible. You need a seemingly insignificant person to fix your problem. The same is true with God’s servants. God can accomplish great things in your life by using seemingly insignificant people. You might even be one of them. God does this so that we will see the power is from Him, not man.
Mike