All My People
“I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet” (Amos 7:14).
Amos was just a regular guy. He was a farmer and a shepherd. He cared for sycamore-fig trees and sheep. He wasn’t looking for another assignment, and he had no desire for an audience or a platform.
But then God “took” him from those duties and told him to “go” (Amos 7:15).
You can, and should, read the whole story in the Book of Amos. It is a story of wonder and fright, and it includes several warnings relevant to our current time. But for this week, I draw your attention to this remarkable portion of the story where God turns to the average Joe farmer/shepherd to implement His plan.
God needs a messenger—a mouthpiece! To be technically precise, it is really that God has chosen to use a messenger, because He could have utilized a different method for accomplishing His will—He doesn’t need anything. But this is one of the throughlines of both scripture and the human timeline: God has chosen to deploy His will and plan on Earth by means of His people. In this case, God has a message for His people, and He has selected a farmer/shepherd to deliver it.
The farmer/shepherd is as surprised by this as anyone. In fact, it seems as though he’s giving a disclaimer and acknowledging his selection may be a poor one when he says, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15).
Amos may as well have said, “I wouldn’t pick me either, but God did, so here I am!”
Can you relate to this? I sure can—especially the first part! My reflexive response when God gives me an assignment is one of evaluation. Am I qualified for this? Do I know how to do this? Have I done this before? Perhaps most revealing, do I want to do this?
Before I say yes, and before I obey, I so frequently assess.
My friend, God is not asking for your assessment nor mine. He’s asking for your trust and acquiescence. He’s called you to be His vessel and to bear His image, not to assume the author’s pen for all of Creation! He alone writes the story, and you and I are invited into it!
We humans have an ingrained impulse to sort the qualified from the unqualified. We use age, gender, race, education, occupation, ability, and an infinite number of other criteria to arrive at our personal conclusions about who should speak for God. But the whole arc of scripture loudly trumpets the truth that God is calling all people to proclaim His Truth!
Moses declares, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them” (Num. 11:29)!
God speaks through the prophet Joel and says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).
Fast forward to Acts. Jesus the Messiah has come, been crucified, resurrected, and ascended back to heaven. Peter is addressing the Church Jesus has left behind, and he chooses these same words from Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Acts 2:17).
My friends, God uses all His people. The old. The young. Men. Women. The educated. The illiterate. The wealthy. The poor. The powerful. The imprisoned. All people!
We would do it different. But in God’s merciful design, the choosing is not ours but His. And He has chosen to pour out His Spirit on all people and proclaimed His deep desire that all people would walk in, and proclaim, His Truth!
You may be just a “farmer/shepherd.” This includes any and all occupations or earthly assignments. You might well be neither a prophet nor the son or daughter of a prophet. But no matter your station in life, the God of the universe wants to pour His Spirit out on you. When He does, will you go?