Do you think that God can't use you? Either because you have failed in the past, or you feel you are "un-equipped"? If
the answer is "yes", then you are not alone! In fact many before you have felt the same way! They have had failures and they
have felt, "un-equipped"!!
In fact you would be surprised at the amount of people that struggle with the same doubts! Not only that, but many are
found in the Bible!! People that you have heard, and read about!!!
Whether it is being called to ministry, or even just being led to speak to someone. Or do some kind act that God has
laid on your heart! Everyone has been there at one time, or another!! The "feeling" that you will "fail", or that God cannot
use you because you are "un-equipped", or because you have failed before. But just because you may have failed in
the past, does not mean that God cannot use
you now! Nor does it mean that He cannot use you if you are "un-equipped"!!
Many others before you felt "un-equipped", had failures, made mistakes, but God still used them! Their failures
did not make them "a failure", only human!!!
From the "fall of man", in the garden of eden, to now, people have been "imperfect". It does not matter who they are,
or how "great" people may consider them. Humans are humans! None of us are perfect!!
Look at those found in the Bible! Moses, who was used to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. He doubted
God could use him, but He did! He Received the Ten Comandments and the law. And led the children of Israel for many years
(Exodus)!! David, who even though he was king, had it all, committed adultery, and had a man murdered to take his wife (2
Samuel 11, 12:13). He made mistakes, yet God still used him! Look at Peter who denied Jesus three times, but was
restored back (John 18:17, 25-27, 21:15-17). And he went on to do great ministry! Thomas who doubted Jesus's resurrection
until he could pysically see and touch Him (John 20:25)! And there are many, many other examples of "imperfect", "fallible"
human beings being used by God for His work!!
None of us are "perfect", yet God uses us! Let's take Moses for example. Most everyone knows that Moses led
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. But what most people do not know, is the struggles that Moses had with feeling
"inadequate", "un-equipped". This may be hard for some to imagine, but its true! He did not know how to, nor did he think
that he could be used!! In fact when God called him, he only doubted that God could use him!
Not once, not twice, not three times......but 5 times:
First time:
"Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the
oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My
people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to
Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
(Exodus 3:9-11 NKJV)
Second time:
"So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have
sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The
God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall
I say to them?”
(Exodus 3:12-13 NKJV)
Third time:
"Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice;
suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
So the LORD said to him,
“What is that in your hand?”
He said, “A rod.”
And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and
it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by
the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe
that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
(Exodus 4:1-5 NKJV)
Fourth time:
"Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since
You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
So the LORD said to him,
“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
(Exodus 4:10-12 NKJV)
Fifth time:
"But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
(Exodus
4:13 NKJV)
Now this is not the complete dialogue, but it gives you a good picture! Here we have Moses, still known throughout most
of the world, who doubts God's call on his life! He feels "inadequate", "un-equipped", "incapable" of doing the task that
he has been given!
Not only that, he already tried to help an Israelite long before that ...and it did not go so well for him:
"Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked
at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way,
and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two
Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you
killed the Egyptian?”
So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” When Pharaoh
heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and
he sat down by a well."
(Exodus 2:11-15 NKJV)
This was before Moses was called by God (in the desert) to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt! He had already made
one mistake! He doubted God could use him, but we all know the rest of the story, don't we? God used Moses in some wonderful
ways! He led the children of Israel out of Egypt, was given the ten commandments and the law!! And led the Israelites for
many years!!!
Yet here we have Moses, who felt it could not happen, "could not be done"!!! He thought, "who am I that you can use me?"
But God did, and in some wonderful ways!!
We are ALL just "human". We are imperfect, "inept" and by all means "incomplete"! You see God does not use "perfect" vessels
(i.e. perfect "people") to do His work. Why? Well, first of all there are NO PERFECT PEOPLE to begin with! Also,
He does not use the "wise" people, or the ones you would expect!! Why? If He did, then He would not receive the credit due
Him! He would not receive the glory!!
He uses people just like you and me!!!
Imperfect humans:
"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the
things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh
should glory in His presence.
(1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NKJV)
Sometimes its hard for us to grasp this, but its true. We are all so "imperfect", but yet He redeems us, and He
uses us! In fact if most of us, no matter who we are, if we were honest, would admit we struggle from time to time with
our "imperfectness", our "human condition"! Even those who may seem to "have it all together"!!
We will ask ourselves questions like, "why me Lord, I will only mess it up". Or questions like, "Lord I've
failed before How can you use me?" But you know what? God does not choose us according to our ability! He chooses us knowing
that He can use us and that He will get the glory!! You see when God picks the "unlikely" people (the ones you would not expect)
no one can help, but take notice they could not have done it on their own!
Like Peter and John:
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men,
they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus."
(Acts 4:13 NKJV)
You see God uses "imperfect vessels"! He uses us!! People He knows that He can use, ones that will rely on Him!!! But
we are the ones who have such a hard time believing that He can use us (not Him!)!!
And all that He asks of us is that we listen to Him!! This is the "key". You see we need to be led by Him, if
we are going to do His will. But this is the problem with many. They either do not want the Lord being the "pilot" (so to
speak), or they do not listen very well. You see God gives us His resources to do His will. These are not "natural"
abilities (although He can use these also), but these are "supernatural". The reason? So God will receive the glory! For example
let's look at the work of the Holy Spirit.
He was given to us to help do the Lord's work:
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,
He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
(John
14:26 NKJV)
"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will
not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify
Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that
He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
(John 16:13-15 NKJV)
"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit
is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the
word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually
as He wills."
(1
Corinthians 12:4-11 NKJV)
The Holy Spirit was given to us to help us follow the Lord and do His will!
You see who God calls, "He equips"! He gave Moses the resources to speak to, and lead the chidlren of
Israel out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 3-14). He helped David slay the Philistine giant Goliath when the Israelites were
afraid (1 Samuel 17). Or what about Jeremiah? The prophet whom God used to speak to the king and children of Israel right
before the babylonian exile? He doubted God could use Him:
"Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
“
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Then said I:
“ Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold,
I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
But the LORD said to me:
“ Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For
you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall
speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces,
For
I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD."
(Jeremiah 1:4-8 NKJV)
And Jeremiah went on to deliver the words that God gave him. Prophesies concerning Israel, which came
true!
We all at times feel very "small" and not up to the tasks that we are called to do! Often, more times, than not,
we really are not!! But God sees past our weaknesses and "in-abilites" and He uses us anyway!!! He knows we are not perfect.
He knows we will make mistakes. But He asks us to be faithful to Him and that we keep perservering! That is, we keep "getting
up" if we fall down!!
You see its up to us to "answer" His call. He knows we will not ALWAYS get it right, but He asks us to follow Him the best
that we can (with His help of course!). And later, when all is said and done, then we will know that we followed Him the
best that we could! You see its not important what ministry we all are called to, what is important that we
answer God's call! That we are faithful to Him!!! Whether its to visit someone in the hospital. Deilver a message to
someone, whether its admonishing, or encouragment. Or whether its starting a ministry, or answering a call to ministry.
There are no "small" jobs in the kingdom! Consider this:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
“ The hands of Zerubbabel
Have laid the foundation of this temple;
His
hands shall also finish it.
Then you will know
That
the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.
For who has despised the day
of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The
plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the LORD,
Which
scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
(Zechariah 4:8-10 NKJV)
Every job the Lord gives us is important! Whether we think it is, or not!! And though we may not be "perfect" we are His
children. And as His children we are important to Him! He will help us just as He promised those before us (John 14:16-17)!
To help us and guide:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own
understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And
He shall direct your paths."
(Proverbs
3:5-6 NKJV)
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I
will guide you with My eye."
(Psalm 32:8 NKJV)
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells
with you and will be in you."
(John
14:16-17 NKJV)
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you."
(Luke 10:19 NKJV)
"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for
I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes,
I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
(Isaiah 41:10 NKJV)
And just as Paul said:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
(Phillipians 4:13 NKJV)
We will be able to also!
Now if God can use all the "imperfect", "un-equipped", "undone" people found in the Bible, like Moses David, Peter,
etc. Can He not use you?
And if you still have your doubts, than consider this!
God once used a donkey to rebuke a man:
"Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that
you have struck me these three times?”
And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me.
I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am
I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this
to you?” And he said, “No.”
Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel
of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come
out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would
also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
(Numbers 22:28-33 NKJV)
So if God can use a donkey.......He can use you!
Here are some additional references for help and encouragement:
Zechariah 4:6
Isaiah 40:28-31, 55:10-11
Matthew 10:27
Acts 4:19-20, 5:29
Luke 10:17-19
1 Peter 4:11
John 15:20
Romans 8:26-28
2 Corinthians 12:10
* 1 Corinthians 13, 16:14
