In yesterday’s post, I shared that the words “How Odd Of God” were dropped into my spirit as I sought the Lord for revelations of what we could expect in 2013.

The very first time I ever heard these words was in an Old Testament lecture at Queen’s Theological College when Dr. Haldor Parker remarked: “How odd of God to choose the Jews!”

That quote has been attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain among others.

No matter who strung the words together, one thing is certain. They echo what Moses tells the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 7:7-8: “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers…”

In the King James Translation of the Bible, the Jews are referred to as a “peculiar” people (Deuteronomy 14:2) and treasure (Exodus 19:5, Psalm 135:4).

The same adjective is applied to Christians in I Peter 2:9 and Titus 2:14.

“Peculiar” in the KJV does not mean “odd” the way we use the word today; it denotes someone who is a special possession, chosen “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9)

Of course, in practice, the Jews and the Christians refused to conform to the culture that surrounded them and were indeed perceived as being “weird” or “odd.”

Thus you could make a case that they simply reflected the God they served, who would be worthy of being labelled as they were…a “peculiar” God, an “odd” God.

The apostle Paul reminds the young Christians in Corinth: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…” (I Corinthians 1:27)

In other words, God delights to choose those who would not win People’s Choice Awards or even Critic’s Choice Awards in order to confound the wisdom of the world.

God chooses a young shepherd boy David to slay a giant who intimidated every adult male in Israel.

In Judges 4, we see how God chooses an unknown homemaker named Jael to kill Sisera, a task that well-known warriors of the day could not accomplish.

God chooses a shy young woman named Esther to foil the plot of a cunning Haman to eliminate the Jewish race in a way that can elicit only one response: “How odd of God!”

When Jesus came to earth, once again we see how odd of God it was to use the curse of death on a cross to bestow the blessing of eternal life to all who believe. Wow!

How odd of God indeed!

I am sensing that in the year 2013 we will see demonstrations of the oddity of God in the people He chooses to lift up before the entire world.

The Lord’s been speaking to me particularly about two American teenagers—one from Southern California who moves incredibly in the prophetic anointing and another from North Carolina whose words are confirmed with signs, wonders and miracles following—whose ministries will elicit the response: “How odd of God to choose….”

I’ve also been hearing about a formerly lesbian Canadian homemaker being used by God to set the captives free in amazing ways that defy all odds and will lead many in the church to exclaim: “How odd of God to choose…”

By the way, do you realize that you are also part of this elite “peculiar” group that is chosen to “turn the world upside down?” (Acts 17:6).

Could you be one to whom the rest of your community points their finger while mouthing the words: “How odd of God to choose (insert your first name)!”

Why not, eh?