Moses was enjoying a life of obscurity – just him and a bunch of sheep wandering in the wilderness, looking for patches of tasty grass.

This lone shepherd had experienced a notorious childhood and education in the palace of Pharaoh. As an infant, he had been rescued from the reeds of the Nile and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. As an adult, he had witnessed the beating of one of his Israelite brothers by an Egyptian. He had intervened, killing the attacker.

Moses thought no one had seen what he’d done, but word reached Pharaoh, who put a high price on his head. Moses literally ran for the hills, eventually settling in Midian and marrying a local girl.

And now here he was, having traded the palace life for the pasture life.

On one particular day, Moses and his flock meandered over to Horeb, “the mountain of God.” Oddly enough, he noticed a burning bush – on fire but not consumed. This deserved a closer look so the curious shepherd approached. The Lord stopped him in his tracks, calling to him by name from the bush and instructing him to remove his sandals. “The place where you are standing is holy ground…I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:5b-6a) Realizing he was in the very presence of God Himself, Moses covered his face in absolute terror.

Then God proceeded to lay out His rescue plan for the Israelites, who had suffered and cried out to Him during 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Moses – an ordinary man – was to be a big piece in that puzzle. And his staff – the ordinary tool of a shepherd – would be another big piece.

Moses tried desperately to talk God out of using him to accomplish this monumental task. But if you’ve been around God for any length of time, you know that arguing with the King of the universe – Whose ways and thoughts are so much loftier than ours – gets you nowhere.

In the end, God promised to be with Moses. God spelled out exactly Who He was – “I AM WHO I AM.” He commissioned Moses to save Israel. He spelled out the specifics of His plan and told Moses to get busy.

In my “holy imagination,” I can see Moses letting out a big sigh before asking, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (Exodus 4:1) I can also imagine God doing the same thing – big sigh.

Then God asked royalty-turned-shepherd what he was holding in his hand. “A staff.” God told Moses to throw it on the ground, and – jiminy cricket! – it became a snake! Moses was terrified and ran from it! Then God told him to grab the snake by the tail, and it became a staff again.

On that day, God took the ordinary tool of a working man and changed the course of history. The same staff that was used to corral sheep and fend off wild animals became a sign of the power of God when placed under His authority.

You may feel like you don’t have a lot to offer this world. You may feel insignificant and unseen. You may feel like your day-to-day is a grind that benefits no one. You would be wrong. That’s certainly not the way God sees you.

You were created by a God Who personally crafted everything about you to fulfill His grand design for His world. You may feel ordinary, but the truth is that in His hands, you are His “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (you) to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

When you place yourself in His hands, you become anything but ordinary. You become part of “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

All He needs is your “Yes!” He’s the One Who does the heavy lifting to accomplish His will through you. “(He) has saved (you) to a holy life – not because of anything (you) have done but because of His own power and grace.” (2 Timothy 1:9)

1 Corinthians 12 paints a simple picture to help us understand how unique and vital each of us is to the body of Christ. Paul compares spiritual gifts to parts of the human body. He emphasizes the necessity of every part to the successful function of the whole. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body…But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.” (Ephesians 12:7,12,18) Every part of the body is honorable and useful. Whether you’re an elbow, an earlobe or an eyelash, you are valuable and appreciated.

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for (you); Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.” (Psalm 138:8) In the hands of your extraordinary God, you become a holy instrument of His perfect will. There’s nothing ordinary about you.

(You can read more about Moses and his initial encounter with God in Exodus 3 and 4.)