Former Blackout Artist

I’m Thankful Jesus Picked ‘The Twelve’ He Did

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Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

There are times when I’m reading my Bible and I think to myself, “What’s the point? I’m not smart enough, I’m not brave enough, I’m not disciplined enough, and I’m not good enough. What use could I possibly be to God?”

Then as I read a through a few others chapters, I begin noticing some things:

  • James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to torch a Samaritan village (Luke 9:54).
  • The disciples’ faith wasn’t strong enough to heal the demon-possessed boy (Mark 9:17).
  • The day when Jesus was warning the disciples about the “yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” they didn’t understand. They started arguing among each other about who had forgotten to bring bread along with them (Matthew 16:7).
  • The disciples even argued amongst themselves about which of them was the greatest (Luke 9:46).
  • Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet, only to make matters worse when he said, “okay then, wash my hands and my head, too” (John 13:9).
  • In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to stay awake and pray so that they wouldn’t fall into temptation. But they fell asleep (Luke 22:45).
  • Thomas refused to believe his fellow disciples when they told him that Jesus appeared to them following His resurrection. (John 20:24).
  • Jesus restored Peter’s faith, telling him that eventually he would die for Him. It was such a powerful moment, until Peter glanced over at John and asked Jesus, “What about him?” (John 21:20).

Reading these accounts, I begin to realize that Jesus’ own disciples occasionally lacked the same things I lack sometimes. Things like understanding, humility, courage, patience, discipline, compassion, and even faith.

I don’t know about you, but their stories encourage me. They didn’t have everything together, they were very human. But man… I admire how honest and real they were. And I think that Jesus chose them partly because He knew that future generations wanting to become His disciples would find enormous encouragement from reading about them.

God took these imperfect men and turned the entire world upside down. And He can use you and me, with all our flaws and fears, to bring His love and light to a world in desperate need today.