A meditation on 1 Chronicles 17
When was the last time you paused to consider a truth Scripture repeats again and again: God has no favourites?
Peter saw it clearly after Cornelius: โIn truth I perceive that God shows no partialityโ (Acts 10:34 NKJV). Paul repeats it: โFor there is no partiality with Godโ (Romans 2:11). James lifts up Elijahโfire-from-heaven Elijahโand says he was โa man with a nature like oursโ who prayed earnestly and heaven moved (James 5:17). The Psalmist goes further: โThe Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truthโ (Psalm 145:18). Not some. All.
I felt this truth really resonate with me while meditating on 1 Chronicles 17. David, the man after Godโs own heart, speaks to God like a friend. He offers to build Him a house. God turns it round: โYou shall not build Me a houseโฆ I will build you a house; I will establish your throne foreverโ (vv. 11-14). The Messiah comes through Davidโs lineโthe intimacy had real repercussions; indeed, we all benefit from it!
Yet here is what really struck me: while David had the Spirit come upon him; we have the Spirit dwelling within us, never to leave us. David tasted the shadow; we possess the substance. This is why Paul even says we are already โblessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christโ (Ephesians 1:3). Not just the super saints or apostles; all of us who are in Christ have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing.
If God has no favourites, and if we already possess more than David, what is left? Only faithโbold, expectant faith that refuses to shrink Godโs promises down to our experience.
History is full of โordinaryโ people who believed this truth and became spiritual giants: an uneducated shoemaker named William Carey who believed God could use him to reach India; a shy Welsh coal miner named Evan Roberts who believed God could revive a nation; a New England pastor named Jonathan Edwards who resolved to let nothing come between God and His purposes lived out through his life. None of them had a special badge from heaven that the rest of us lack. They simply believed that the same God who was near to David, near to Elijah, near to Paul, was near to themโand they acted like it.
The thrilling question: why not you? Why not me? Not because we are impressive, but because God has no favorites. The ceiling is not set by pedigree, personality, or past performance. The ceiling is set only by how seriously we take the truth that the same God who spoke galaxies into existence and raised Jesus from the dead is near to all who call on Him in truth.
โFor the eyes of the Lแดสแด run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.โ
2 Chronicles 16:9a
God is waiting for us! May we have the courage to believe itโand to live like it is true.
