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“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…Bartholomew…James the son of Alphaeus, and…Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite” (Matthew 10:2-4).
In this list of the twelve disciples, we find the four names I have noted today—names about which we do not hear much. We do not know much about their personalities, nor what they might have done for the Lord. We do know, of course, that they were with the Lord throughout His earthly ministry, and were all present on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down and the church was formed, but we do not hear anything more about them. Likewise, only Judas the brother of James is mentioned as saying anything at all during the time our Lord was on earth. (Note that Lebbaeus, Thaddeus, and Judas the brother of James were all the same person.)
This does not mean, however, that the Lord did not use them. Sometimes those who are quieter are much used of the Lord, and accomplish His work just as effectively as those who are more outgoing. The Lord knew whom He was choosing, and used a variety of men to follow Him.
Again, it is the same today. The Lord uses outgoing people who are leaders, but He also uses quieter people who work “behind the scenes,” yet still do His work for Him. He wants to use each one of us!
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