God can make children of Abraham out of rocks. God will be glorified with or without you. And yet, God delights to use you for his glory and your good in his kingdom plans. At the same time, he is not dependent on you to accomplish them. This is a principle that John the Baptist reminds the Pharisees and Sadducees of (cf. Matthew 3:9 — “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”) We see this principle illustrated in Acts 1:15–26. There we witness a memorable scene play out. Peter leads the disciples to fill the void in the twelve left by Judas with a qualified disciple, in keeping with the necessary fulfillment of God’s Word with regard to kingdom restoration (cf. Psalms 69:25; 109:8). Two fellas, the man with three names, Joseph-Barsabbas-Justus, and the man with one name, Matthias, meet the stipulations. That is, both Joseph and Matthias are qualified to be counted among the twelve and receive a share in their ministry. And yet, only one will be chosen. In the end, King Jesus reveals his choice of Matthias. Check out the final movements in the scene:

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:24–26)

The disciples pray for the Lord to reveal his choice, and he does. We may wonder: What did Joseph do after this? Did he leave in a huff? Did he ask for a recasting of the lots? Did he take his ball and go home? I think it is safe to say no to all of the above. Here’s why.

The very next thing we read in Acts 2:1 is this,

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They here refers to all of the disciples of Jesus who were present in the preceding scene: the eleven and the roughly 120 including the newly added to the eleven, Matthias, and Joseph. All of these were baptized in the Holy Spirit and became instrumental witnesses of Jesus Christ in the founding of the early church. Some traditions even say that Joseph went on to become a bishop in the early church. But, we may still wonder: Why was Matthias chosen over Joseph?

The short answer, as we’ve made clear at the top, is because Jesus delighted to choose Matthias and wasn’t beholding or dependent to pick one over the other. But there might be more to say on the matter.

We find one other valuable insight in Acts 1:24. From the disciples’ human perspective, the choice is a toss-up. All the objective evidence they can observe suggests that these men are equally qualified. There are no glaring reasons why one and not the other should be chosen. Therefore, they pray. Notice the content of their prayer again. Not only do they confess that Jesus has already made his choice (he simply needs to reveal it) but they address Jesus as the knower of hearts. They recognize that not only does the Lord know the hearts of these men in a way that they as outside observers certainly can’t, but that the Lord also knows Joseph and Matthias’ hearts more intimately than even Joseph and Matthias can. We’re reminded here of the Psalmist:

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. (Psalm 19:12)

 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23–24)

Perhaps, there was something in the heart of Joseph that better suited him to not be one of the twelve. For that matter, perhaps there was something in Matthias’ heart that better suited him to be one of the twelve. What was it? We don’t know. We can only speculate on the specifics. But what we can know for sure is that this choice by the Lord was a grace to both men.

Everything God does for his people, he does for his glory and their good. God’s will for his people is their conformity to Jesus and their ultimate glorification with him (Romans 8:29–31). Therefore, God works all things toward this ultimate good for those who love him and are called according to this purpose and plan unto his own glory (Rom 8:28; 11:36). By taking away from Joseph the role of being one of the twelve, King Jesus was doing what was most glorifying for himself and what was best for Joseph. Likewise, by giving to Matthias the role of being one of the twelve, King Jesus was doing what was most glorifying for himself and what was best for Matthias. This is instructive for us.

Our identity should never be wrapped up in anything other than Jesus—not even our particularly calling or ministry. If Joseph bound his identity to being named one of the twelve because he thought it was what was best for him and the kingdom, the loss of this possibility might have driven him to despair. By taking this role from Joseph, then, we can trust that God was working a particular grace in his life that otherwise wouldn’t have come about. Perhaps he was exposing things in Joseph for his good. Perhaps he was protecting Joseph from hidden things in his heart that wouldn’t have been revealed and dealt with otherwise. So, for you, when God takes something away, even when it is what you believe he has called you to, you can rest assured of this: God gives and God takes away always for your ultimate good and his glory.

God is not dependent on you for his kingdom plans to succeed. He is not beholden to use you in any specific ministry or way. Rather, God delights to use you in the way that will most glorify him and conform you into the image of Jesus (Rom 8:28–31). The picture of Matthias being chosen rather than Joseph illustrates this reality for us in a memorable way.

God can make children of Abraham out of rocks. God will be glorified with or without you. But, in his kindness, he has delighted to call you to wrap yourself up completely in his Son, Jesus. He has delighted to call you to glorify him in the way he chooses. Submit to his call knowing that he will work all things for your good. For, his glory is your good.