There is huge comfort in knowing that God uses the broken, the weak, those who have failed, the “nobodies” as defined by our culture and cultures past, to illustrate some of His best and most colorful stories. (Have you noticed that none of His stories are in black and white, but are in vivid colors?)
Adam and Eve – They failed straight out of the shoot and yet He used them to begin the journey of mankind.
Noah – He was the neighborhood “crazy man” who built an ark in the middle of a drought in the desert. Misunderstood. But God used him to save creation from a flood of massive proportions.
Moses – He had a nasty temper, killed a man, had a speech impediment and ended up disobeying God, but God used him to lead His people out of slavery and to give them the ten commandments.
Rahab – A prostitute whom God used to save the men He chose to go on a undercover mission.
David – The dreamer, the tormented artist, a humble sheep herder, but God used him to kill a fierce and humongous enemy. Later, he committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed in battle, but still God called him a man after His own heart and used him to rule a nation and be the blood line through whom Jesus would come.
Samson – He disobeyed God by giving into to a woman’s seductive sweet talk. Still, God used him to bring justice to evil people.
Peter – This man was a passionate hot head that spoke before he thought. He cut off a man’s ear in defense of Jesus and then turned around and denied even know Jesus three times. And God used him as the pillar of the first church.
Paul – He murdered the Christians of his day. And yet, God chose him to initiate and help spread the Good News of Jesus and to write multiple books and letters that would make up our modern day bible.
The list is endless. These are just a few that popped into my head without even thinking. Men and women whom the “religious” community as well as the culture around them would deem “unusable”. Broken, imperfect, deeply flawed people like me.
I wrestle with the thought of not being enough. Of not being good enough, skilled enough, perfect enough for God to use me. And then I’m reminded that that is precisely the point. It’s not about what I can or can’t do or be or say. It’s about what GOD can do and be and say through, and sometimes in spite, of me. If He can use an imperfect girl who wrestles with sin and selfishness and self-doubt, then He proves once again His own goodness, grace and greatness. And I can more easily fade into the background where I belong….
Jesus, move me out of the way and do Your thing….
2 Corinthians 12:9 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
