I want to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ by reminding you that no matter where we’ve come from, no matter what we’ve done, and no matter what we’re struggling with right now, God can still mightily use us if we are available and listening for His direction!
Sometimes, we allow our enemy Satan to plant seeds of doubt in our minds. We think we are not good enough for God to use, or think we don’t have enough victory in our lives to testify, or even think that we don’t have an impressive enough testimony.
Personally, I have felt all those things at different points in my life.
Often, I just feel too sinful and full of weakness for God to use me, to bring others to Christ, or to work through me, to encourage others. But, remember ~ Satan is a LIAR!
During those times that I do not feel useful for God, I remind myself of the Bible story from Numbers 22. It is an interesting story about the prophet Balaam. What ended up happening, is that to get Balaam’s attention, God actually spoke through the donkey!
YES, ~ the donkey talked!
Maybe even more amazing, is that Balaam did not hesitate to talk BACK to the donkey!
Seriously though, I figure, if God can work through a donkey, then He can certainly speak through me!
Many years ago, I wrote a poem about this, and I want to share it with you. It's about men and women from the Bible who COULD have thought they were not useful to God. HOWEVER, God did a mighty work in and through their lives anyway!
Use Me, Lord!
I was busy thinking…
“Can You use me Lord?
Lord, can you use ME?
What would You possibly use me for?
Sometimes I feel rotten to the core.
What good could I do for You?”
But then, God reminded me of some important Bible characters:
And NOW I say,
If You could use a “Divided David,” You can use me;
He was a murderer and adulterer, yet he was “after God’s own heart!”
If You could use “Teetering Thomas the Twin,” You can use me;
He doubted God, hence the blessing for those of us who believe without seeing!
If You could use “Persecutor Paul,” You can use me;
He once mocked God and persecuted His people, then wrote half the New Testament!
If You could use “Rehabilitated Rahab,” You can use me;
She was a prostitute, yet helped Israelite spies, and was an ancestor of Christ!
If You could use “Ancient Abraham,” You can use me;
He was way past his prime, yet God blessed his seed as the sands of the earth!
If You could use “Jittery Jonah,” You can use me;
He ran from God’s calling and will, yet with one sermon saved a whole city!
If You could use “Redeemed and Royal Ruth,” You can use me;
A foreigner who came from poverty, yet she became an ancestor of our Messiah!
Yes, thank You God for these reminders!
Thank you that no matter what I have done, You can still use me!
Please God, save me from the distractions of life, that I may better serve You!
Written by God and Jennifer Noll, September 22, 1998
I hope this will encourage each of you to daily resist those seeds of doubt; then, instead to recognize that God has a plan for your life. It is a good plan! It is a plan that includes working through you to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
You can begin just by sharing with someone else what God has done for you lately! Can you share of what He has taught you? Can you share what He has brought you through? Can you share how you have seen His hand of protection over you? Can you testify of His faithfulness in your life? The answers should be: Yes! Yes! Yes…and Amen!
Remember, if God could use a donkey, He can use you too!
So, don’t hesitate, start sharing the Good News! Then, trust Him to bring about results!
Click HERE to read that interesting story of the talking donkey!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Who Is In Control?
That was back in the day when you could just enjoy a day on the beach, instead of being consumed with today’s concerns. There was no such thing as sunblock. I had no fear of sharks or jellyfish or pollution. I didn’t care what others thought of how I looked in my swimsuit.
We just enjoyed ourselves in the sun, with the Coleman cooler of food, and fun in the ocean!
I remember:
* the excitement during our drive there, when we began to see sand along the sides of the roads.
* the slightly fishy smell as we stepped out of the pickup truck.
* hearing the sound of the waves, before actually seeing them crash against the shore.
* the feel of the hot sand between my toes.
* the taste of drying saltwater on my lips.
* sun so bright, I needed to squint to see anything, but no matter how hard I focused, I couldn’t see where the ocean met the sky.
* being amazed by how powerful the ocean was, when I would be knocked off my blow-up raft, get sucked under the water, and fight against the waves until my smiling face once again touched the sunshine.
I know that I am SUPER blessed to have had parents who took us to the shore, so we could have those experiences growing up!
Now, as an adult, I still love the ocean!
I still stand on the sand, amazed by the power and beauty of the waves!
~ like getting a headache from the glaringly bright sun,
~ the grating sand inside your swimsuit that gets transferred to your car, your clothes, and your tub,
~ the inevitably burned skin and chapped lips,
~ the unintentional gulps of germy saltwater,
~ your bottle of ice water that too quickly turns the unappealing temperature of bath water,
~ the annoying birds that want to steal your sandwich…
God is in control means He is at work in each of our lives!
God is in control means He has a design for each of our lives!
God is in control means He has given us everything we have!
Job 1:21 says, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave me everything I have. It was His to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
And, Job 2:9-10 reminds us, “…Shall we take only good things from the hand of God? Shall we never take any bad things?…We accept good things from God. So we should also accept trouble when He sends it.”
God is in control means He doesn’t always give us what we want when we want it.
God is in control means He allows things (or people) to be taken from our lives.
God is in control means we don’t get to know what tomorrow might bring.
BUT ~ even in the midst of all this, He is still working in our lives and He is still in control.
These are lessons that He wants each of us to obediently accept, even before we understand.
So, because He knows best, we need to first CHOOSE to allow Him to have control! If we’re trying to run things, then we are living in disobedience.
As I reminded a class of middle schoolers this week ~ EVERY TIME we disobey, there IS a consequence! Every time…
Job 5:17-18 says, “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal.”
If we are living a life yielded to the Savior, we can look forward to blessings to come as He reveals His will for our lives! Blessed be the name of the Lord!
To my Brothers and Sisters in Christ ~ PLEASE keep me in your prayers! Yes, I am still planning on going to the international mission field for another short-term trip. Yes, I have been accepted by 2 missions organizations. Yes, one of them has offered me placement. BUT ~ I am still prayerfully seeking direction on which way I should turn... I am expecting a phone call this coming week with more details about another placement. I am hoping that call will bring much awaited answers. Meanwhile, I am still substitute teaching, trying to walk obediently, trying to daily surrender, and trying to accept that peace that passes all understanding! So, please pray with me!
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