July 3, 2016 ·

Justus the Also-ran

“God controls the lots. … And God certainly controls your lot in life. That means we need to question whether or not Justus is actually a loser or not. See, they're both very worthy in human eyes, but God has ultimate control. Justus, is he a loser in God's eyes? No. Justus just had a different role to play. God had a different plan for Justus's life. God loved Justus, trusted Justus, wanted to use Justus. … What was Justus's job? Justus's job was to do the will of God. Justus's job as a follower of Jesus was to be aligned with Jesus, to make sure his heart was aligned with the Spirit of God. That's what he was there to do, and I have to say, I think he was a winner. And we need to redefine our understanding of what winning is as Christians. Winning isn't how high I get promoted, how much money I have, how many cars I have, how much people like me, where I am in the hierarchy. Winning is, am I aligned with Christ? Am I aligned with God's will? And it's interesting, sometimes it's random. Who gets picked for what? Why they're there? Doesn't make any sense, Lord. No, it's just a coin toss. I'm sure God had his reasons. He says that he knows the hearts of the people. He knew why he wanted Matthias there. But it didn't make Justus a loser in the eyes of God, but maybe in the eyes of the world. Jesus was a loser in the eyes of the world. Jesus took a big L according to the authorities. But not to God again.”