Sentilong Ozukum
God loves you. God can use you
I believe many of us would readily accept the first statement but will have second thoughts on the latter. I don’t want to sound too similar but many of us are lacking in self-confidence. We don’t trust ourselves and we don’t trust God.
After all why would God need a dull, untalented and stupid being like me? Why would God choose a simple person like me to carry out his divine works? I believe many a times God cannot carry out His purpose in us because we are not often ready. We are always in our back foot pondering over our imperfections, weaknesses and flaws. A good deal of us let guilt take over our life. “I’ve failed God a dozen times. I’m definitely not going back into the ring.”
Yes God loves us and God can use us. Both the statements are equally true. Why then the second statement sound illogical? I mean, if He needs us then we must be born equipped. Probably that’s what we think. Not so with God. Then it’s time to find out God’s logic. Well don’t expect me to present to you a solid paper on this topic with hundreds of Bible references. I wish I could do that. But let us together study our every day Bible heroes whom God used to change History. The Bible is full of stories of how God used ordinary, weak and imperfect people to do extraordinary things in spite of their weaknesses. Strange as it may seem it is this very humanness that makes these people refreshing. They are so refreshing that should you ever need a reminder of God’s tolerance you’d find it in these people. If you ever wonder how in the world God could use you to change the world, look at these people. What people? The people that God used to change the world.
Let’s start with Abraham
This Father of the Nation was not without his weaknesses. He had a fibbing tongue that wouldn’t stop. Once in order to save his neck he let the words out that Sarah wasn’t his wife but his sister. And not long late he did it again. Twice he traded in his integrity for his security. Can you start a nation on that kind of Faith? God can. God used what was good, forgave what was bad and used old forked tongue to start a nation. No wonder Paul called him the Father of all those who have Faith.
Another household name is Moses
Definitely History’s greatest. But until he was eighty years old he didn’t look that worthy for God. Probably that’s what we thought. He had his own share of weaknesses. His quick temper made him kill an Egyptian, strike the rock he was supposed to speak to and break the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Would you choose a wanted murderer to lead a nation out of bondage? God can and He did. Calling his name through a burning bush which scared old Moses right out of His shoes, God declared, “School’s over. Enough degree. Now its time to work.” Poor Moses. He didn’t even know he was enrolled. There with “Who Me?” written all over his face, Moses agreed to go back into the ring. D.L. Moody, the great American Evangelist said, “Moses spent his first forty years thinking that he was somebody. He spent the next forty years thinking that he was a nobody. The last forty years, he demonstrated how a nobody can do great things through God.”
And what can you say about a man who got so lusty that he got a woman pregnant, tried to blame it on her husband, had her husband killed and went on to live as if nothing had happened. The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart. David’s track record left little to be desired but his repentant spirit was unquestionable.
Then comes Jonah, God’s own missionary to Nineveh. Jonah however had other ideas. He hopped into anther boat when he thought God was not looking. God put Him into a whale’s belly to bring him back to his senses. But even this whale could not stomach this missionary for too long. A good burp and Jonah went flying over the surf and landed big eyed and repented on the beach.
And on and on the stories go
Elijah, the prophet who pouted. Solomon, the King who knew too much. Jacob, the wheeler-dealer. Gomer, the prostitute. Sarah, who giggled at God.
The resurging lesson is clear. God used and uses people. Not saints or super humans or geniuses but people. Crooks, Creeps, lovers and liars. He uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, God makes up for in love. Well then, the logic is simple. If God used only perfect people, nothing would have ever achieved or got done of us is flawless.
Our imperfections are made perfect in his love. Jesus illustrated this statement with a parable. Remember the story of the teenager who decided that life at the farm was not where his future belonged to. So with pockets full of inherited money, he set out to find the big time. What he found instead were hangovers, fair- weather friends and unemployment. When he at last came to his senses, he dug his hand into his empty pockets and began the long walk home rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his father. He never used it. His father saw him over a distant and ran towards him with open arms. The boy’s words of apology were quickly muffled by the father’s words of forgiveness.
The message is very clear, the same opened arms that welcomed Abraham, Moses, David and Jonah welcomes us. No wagging fingers. No clenched fists. No “I told you so!” slaps or “Tell me quickly where you have been” interrogations. No crossed arms. No fat lips. Just open arms.
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he already used and take heart.
