Sometimes it’s tough to serve God in the shadows. You show up faithfully. You contribute your part, but no one seems to notice. Matthias may have felt that way.
Ever since John the Baptist had prepared the way for the Messiah, Matthias had followed.
But without recognition. Matthias was a willing unknown.
In those moments we beg God to rescue us from our insignificant lives, believing nothing important is happening with us, Matthias reminds us that just the opposite is true.
Early on, Jesus had chosen His twelve apostles from among the many disciples who shadowed Him. Even though Matthias qualified as much as any of the twelve who made the list, he wasn’t selected.
Matthias followed anyway.
One week later, Matthias witnessed his world turn upside down—as the One he had faithfully followed died on a Roman cross in Jerusalem. Three days later, however, Matthias’ hopes resurrected as Jesus showed Himself alive from the grave.
For more than three years, Matthias had witnessed it all—in absolute obscurity.
The Gospels never mention his name, yet he was there on every page.
Now, Matthias had gathered with the apostles and many other followers of Christ in an upstairs room large enough to seat the whole group of one hundred twenty.
The Upper Room also held dozens of memories.
Jesus’ glorious resurrection had given the disillusioned group of disciples a new hope and a new purpose. As He ascended to heaven, Jesus told His many followers standing on the Mount of Olives, “You shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
Matthias heard it himself. He, too, had seen Jesus ascend.
There in the same room where Jesus had predicted Judas’s betrayal, Peter explained, through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, Scripture’s prediction that Judas would need to be replaced (Acts 1:20).
Peter described with precision the qualifications for serving as one of the twelve apostles (Acts 1:21–22). Following a discussion, only two qualified men became clear: one named Joseph . . . and Matthias.
The group prayed, and God revealed that He had chosen Matthias to serve in Judas’s place as an apostle and as a witness of Jesus’s resurrection.
Most likely, no one was more surprised than Matthias.
Matthias never followed Jesus in order to serve as an apostle. He didn’t stick around to fill the first vacancy; he never hoped to unseat the first slacker. He didn’t even climb the steps to the Upper Room that day to fish for votes. Matthias simply followed Jesus from the very beginning—with no motive but faithfulness.
Repeatedly in Scripture we see individuals who began with obscure faithfulness—people like Joseph, Ruth, David, Daniel, Esther, and even Jesus—and then God expanded their influence for His glory. In each case, God alone gave the promotion.
It’s the same with us.
When we beg God to rescue us from our insignificant lives, believing nothing important is happening with us, Matthias reminds us that just the opposite is true.
We need to see our obscurity as our significant opportunity (Matthew 25:21).
Faithfulness in obscurity today positions us in a place of greater influence for God tomorrow. (Tweet that.)
Matthias never appears again in the book of Acts or anywhere else in Scripture. He emerges for a moment and then vanishes again into obscurity—a willing unknown who followed God with only the motive of faithfulness.
Tell me what you think: Do you see obscurity as your opportunity to honor an audience of one—God alone? To leave a comment, just click here.
Adapted from Wayne Stiles, “Matthias: God’s Surprise Witness,” in Shaping the Modern Disciple: Lessons from Jesus’s Apostles (IFL Publishing House: Plano, TX, 2013), 74-77.