Misfits on Mission

Joel Balin
Jul 25, 2025
3 min read

My father was a contractor. My brother and uncle were master carpenters. Me? I hit my thumb more than the nails.

When the neighborhood kids played baseball, I was that kid—picked last. Every time.

I played part of one basketball season and finally scored… In the wrong basket.

And the misfit moments didn’t stop there.

One day at school, I was standing at the blackboard—trying to hold it in. But then it all came out. Right there. I peed my pants. The teacher, bless her soul, wrapped her jacket around my waist and quietly drove me home. My older brother? Not so kind. He made up a song about it and sang it to all his friends—and mine.

But the capstone? The day my brother received his Eagle Scout badge—the highest honor in Scouting. That same day, I was receiving my Cub Scout Webelos badge—basically the starting line. I tripped walking onto the stage. I wish I were making this up.

I didn’t fit the mold. I didn’t know if I fit anywhere. But then I found a guitar.

I was different—but that difference was a gift. It didn’t make me less useful. It made me uniquely usable. Turns out, God wasn’t looking for the strongest, fastest, or most coordinated—He was looking for a willing vessel.We may be square pegs in a round world, but God carved us for purpose. He loves misfits. So does His mission.

The Bible is filled with them—misfits who were mocked, misunderstood, and often underestimated. But when touched by the fire of God, they became world-changers.

In Acts 17, a crowd stirred up trouble against Paul and Silas, saying:

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” (Acts 17:6)

That clamor wasn’t a compliment—it was a complaint. But heaven must have smiled. Because that’s what happens when misfits walk in mission: the world is set ablaze.

Every Misfit on Mission can be encouraged by knowing:

God Chooses the Unlikely.

He’s not looking for the best resume—He’s looking for the most available—those who will say “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

“But God chose the foolish things of the world…God chose the weak things of the world…God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things… so that no one may boast before him.”— 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Your Past Doesn’t Disqualify You—It Equips You.

Everything you’ve been through becomes a tool in His hands. No pain surrendered to God is ever wasted.

He repurposes what broke us to build others up.When we place our wounds in God’s hands, He turns them into instruments of healing.

Our greatest testimonies come from our greatest testing.

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” — Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)

You Don’t Need to Be Picked—You’ve Already Been Sent

When Jesus gives you authority, you’re not waiting in line for validation. You’re carrying the weight of heaven’s yes. The enemy doesn’t tremble at titles or endorsements—he trembles at the believer who knows Who sent them.

God doesn’t waste the fire you’ve walked through—He forges something in it.

“Behold, I give you the authority…over all the power of te Devil” — Luke 10:19

Not they, not man, not the religious elite—”I give you.”

You already have God’s power, so you don’t need man’s permission slips.

You’re Called to Stir Things Up.

You weren’t made to blend in—you were born to break ground.

Misfits don’t follow the current; they shift the climate. They rattle cages, tip over sacred cows, and carry a holy disruption that makes darkness nervous.

Misfits don’t go with the flow—they bring the Kingdom.

And when the Kingdom comes, everything shakes.

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” — Acts 17:6 (NKJV)

You’re Not Alone—You’re in a Remnant.

God always has a crew of misfits on mission.

You’re not the only one walking upstream or carrying a holy fire that doesn’t quite fit in comfort-zone Christianity. God has always kept a remnant—a band of bold, broken and bruised, Spirit-filled souls who refuse to bow to the idols of comfort or exchange holy fire for hollow ritual.

You’ve been drafted into the remnant—called for such a time as this.

“Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”— Romans 11:5 (NKJV)

You may have been the last one picked back then—but in the Kingdom, you were chosen before the foundation of the world.

The labels others gave you don’t define you.

You were made for this mission. You’re not too broken. You’re not too “different.” You’re not too late.

You’re might be a misfit…but you’re on a mission.