Nelson Mandela Was NOT Special

**Note: Please read the entire post and not just the title.

The Father has called home one of His children, Nelson Mandela.  Over the next few days, people will wax poetically about all that Madiba has accomplished in his 90+ years.  Friends, dignitaries, journalists will all share stories about Mandela's life which was spent unifying an apartheid riddled country.  We will hear about his life as a freedom fighter, his time as a young lawyer, his 27 years spent in jail, his amazing rise to the presidency, and later his vision as a leader for forgiveness, change, and peace in this world.  Every word spoken with reverence is deserving and overdue.  Madiba is worthy of remembering and praising.

But somewhere in the next few weeks people will start asking themselves - are all of the great ones gone?  Are all of the great leaders gone?  Will there ever be anyone as special or as talented or as gifted as Martin, Malcolm or Madiba?  Some people will say "no, that time has passed."  Others will say "maybe the next leader hasn't been born yet."  Still others will say "no, no one will ever be that special again."  I have a problem with that statement.

Martin was not special.  Malcolm was not special.  Madiba was not special.  They were ordinary men that did extraordinary things that changed the course of history for the better.  They were not special.  They were not aliens or anomalies.  They were men.  They were men walking in purpose, anointed by the Father to change the world.  They were men.  Ordinary men with faults and flaws and issues and thorns and yet they went on to do God's work and change lives, nations, worlds.

See, to call these men special negates your own ability to change your life, your neighborhood, your nation, your world.  If these wonderful leaders are special, that means that they must have something that you don't therefore rendering you helpless.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Every great leader has been afraid or nervous.  Every leader has fallen or made mistakes or wrong turns.  Every leader has been talked about and lied on.  Every leader has been hurt.  But what makes leaders visionary is the concept that nothing is bigger than the God-given assignment.  They. Walked.  In.  Purpose.  That doesn't make them special.  It makes them obedient.  You can be "special" too if you allow the Father to use you.

So Nelson Mandela is at rest.  The Father has said "well done"  for his life of obedience and sacrifice.  It's now time for you - your not special self - to step into greatness, into your Father's purpose.  God's light shining through you can make us all special.