Stars Of The Bible- They're Just Like Us!

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There's a magazine I used to love to read (and still browse in the checkout line, not gonna lie) called Us Weekly. The goal of the magazine is to fill you in on what all the celebrities are doing, who they are dating, what they are wearing, who they hate, who they love... and it's a money-making machine. 

One of my personal favorite sections was the Just Like Us pages. Here they showed candid moments in a movie star's life, with captions like: "Jennifer Lopez buying coffee and creamer at the grocery store" or "Keanu Reeves pumping his own gas"... STARS: they're JUST LIKE US!

Why? 

Because our culture puts these actors and actresses so high up on a pedestal, that it's almost impossible for us to conceive that they could do such menial, normal things such as buy their own groceries or pump their own gas. So, when we see them caught doing such every day tasks, it makes us stop and think, "Wow... they really are 'just like us!'"

I admit, I read the Bible and frequently hear a version of that in my head: "Wow, Peter was just like me! Paul had some issues just like so-and-so..." and so on.

So I started my own little "Stars of the Bible—They're Just like Us!" section in my mind, where I highlight their humanness when reading how God used them. I find it encouraging to know they were no better, and no worse, than we are... yet they made it into THE Book!  

James 5:17 says, "Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months."

Like passions = same fleshly nature always tripping him up. Same problem with his temper; same tendency to become despondent and whiny when tired and hangry; same propensity to think he's the only one serving God the way He deserves.

Yet, he prayed earnestly and the heavens were shut up then reopened 3.5 years later. So... it's not about our fleshly issues, clearly. It's allll about that earnest praying!

And don't forget God's response to that whiny prophet: Take a nap, eat a snack, and get a job. HA!

Stars of the Bible... they're just like us!

My mom loves to remind me that Enoch may have walked with God till God took him, but up until that point he was a husband, a son, a father, and a provider for his family. He had daily tasks that took his attention. He had kids to raise and correct, a wife to love and work with. He had sheep to shear, lambs to sacrifice... he had daily, human tasks. 

Yet, he pleased the Lord SO much, God just took him on to His house on one of their walks. 

That beautiful book is full of stories of people who struggled with their own weaknesses of the flesh, daily jobs and relationships, just like us, but that only makes their stories that more amazing. 

They are living testimonies that BY OUR GOD we can do whatever He calls us to do—His strength is made perfect in our weakness! (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Blessed & highly favored,

Amy

#JustLikeUs

Comments

  1. ShanaJanuary 3, 2021 at 8:36 AM

    I love this ♥️
    And I agree, they were like us and sometimes it’s easy to forget that. So whenever I catch a glimpse of myself in them, it makes me feel relieved and not alone...if God still loved and used them, then there is hope for me!

    Maybe this is one reason I like The Chosen, because it brings their characters to life and it’s more obvious of their faults and issues and how Jesus STILL chose them. As the saying goes, He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called!

    ReplyDelete

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