MONDAY MANNA 

                                                                                                                                 May 25, 2026

 

OPERATING AS CHOSEN INSTRUMENTS

 

By C.C. Simpson

 

The marketplace exposes weight fast. A deal falls apart. A trusted leader walks away. The numbers dip. The board wants answers now. Your team is watching you, trying to read your face. At home, the pressure does not let up. Decisions wait. Conversations linger. And somewhere in the middle of it all, the thought creeps in and will not leave: This is too much for me.

 

That moment tells you something. Not just about the situation, but about what you believe. We assume the weight is too heavy and we are too weak. That is the reflex. But what if that is not true? What if the weight is not misplaced? What if it were measured?

 

Scripture keeps pressing against our instinct to run from pressure. Noah carried the burden of obedience when no one else understood. Joseph bore betrayal and delay before stepping into leadership. Moses stood before Pharaoh with a stutter and a staff. Daniel held his ground in a hostile system that wanted to reshape him. These were not men who avoided weight. They were men shaped under it.

 

Paul may be the clearest example. Once a persecutor, now a preacher. When the Lord called him, He did not speak vaguely. He said, “He is a chosen instrument of Mine” (Acts 9:15). Not random. Not accidental. Chosen. An instrument is not picked because it is convenient. It is picked because it fits.

 

Paul’s mind, his training, his endurance, even his past, all of it was forged into something God could use. The assignment was heavy, but it was not careless. The instrument matched the mission. That is how God works. Chosen instruments carry what the moment requires. Sometimes that looks like clarity when everyone else is anxious. Sometimes it is calm when pressure spikes. Sometimes it is compassion when people are worn thin. Sometimes it is grit when quitting starts to sound reasonable. The weight reveals what has been built in you.

 

Paul knew pressure. Not theory. Reality. He wrote, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). That is formation. The strain was real, but it did not own him. The weight did not break him because God had already been shaping him to bear it. The same is true for you.

 

The lessons you learned the hard way. The disciplines formed when no one was watching. Even the wounds you would never have chosen. None of it is wasted. God does not build instruments blindly. He knows exactly what will be required, and He prepares accordingly. So, if you feel the weight, do not rush to assume something is wrong. It may be that something has been entrusted to you. Before you ask for the burden to lift, ask for the strength to carry it well. Ask for wisdom. Ask for endurance. Ask for clarity in the middle of pressure. God does not call and then step back. He equips. He sustains. He finishes what He starts.

 

The weight may be real. But it is not random. The same God who placed this moment in front of you is the One who prepared you to stand in it. You are not carrying something arbitrary. You are carrying something assigned. And sometimes, the difference between breaking and leading is simply believing that what God placed on your shoulders was not a mistake. It is a calling.

 

© 2026. C.C. Simpson is dedicated to fostering a bold and triumphant Christian faith within the global marketplace.

Before becoming President of CBMC International, Chris dedicated 28 years to a distinguished career in the public

sector – as a Commanding Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, and serving in the U. S. Secret Service, responsible for

protecting seven American presidents and leading elite teams in complex, high-stakes international missions. With

his wife Ana, Chris resides in Boca Raton, Florida.

 

CBMC INTERNATIONAL:Christopher Simpson, President csimpson@cbmcint.org

P.O. Box 182078
▪ Shelby Township, Michigan 48318 ▪ U.S.A.

TEL.: 1-888-581-1736▪ E-MAIL: mmanna@cbmcint.org

Website: www.cbmcint.com Please direct any requests or change of address to: amacri@cbmcint.org

 

 

Reflection/Discussion Questions

 

1.     Where are you feeling the greatest weight right now in your work or personal life, and how might God be using this season to shape you as a chosen instrument rather than simply testing your limits?

 

 

 

2.     In what ways are you tempted to see your current pressures as obstacles rather than assignments from the Lord, and how would your perspective change if you believed the weight was entrusted to you?

 

 

 

3.     Looking back over your life, what experiences, disciplines, or even painful seasons has God used to prepare you for the responsibilities you carry today?

 

 

 

4.     Paul endured deep hardship as a chosen instrument of God (Acts 9:15; 2 Corinthians 4:8). What would it look like this week to depend on God’s strengthening grace instead of trying to carry the weight on your own strength alone?

 

 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Acts 9:15; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 4:7–10; Philippians 4:13; 1 Peter 4:10–11

 

 

Challenge for This Week

 

Identify one area this week where the weight feels heaviest and bring it honestly before the Lord. Instead of asking first for the burden to be removed, ask Him to strengthen you to carry it faithfully.

 

Share that burden with your team or a trusted discipleship partner and invite their prayer support and counsel. Then step into the responsibility with steadiness, trusting that if God entrusted it to you, He has also equipped you for it.