On my way home from work tonight I was thinking about how easy it is to feel unequipped for the tasks God has called us to do. So often we focus on what we can and can't do rather than what God can and wants to do through us. We look at the failures of our past and doubt. We doubt our abilities and even our calling. This is especially the case when He asks us to preach, teach, or lead in an area we've failed.
We ask... "God how can you really be asking me to do this? Can't you see all the times I've failed? Not just failed, but failed epically! They'll call me a hypocrite. It'll never work."
One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Aaron Sorkin's "The West Wing". And as I was pondering all this, I remembered a scene from the series that brought a huge smile to my face...
The Bible is full of "small and illequiped" men and women God uses to acomplish great things. Many of whom suffered tremendous failures while fulfilling their callings. Why?
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 ESV)
You see, God uses the weak and unlikely to accomplish great things as a means of glorifying Himself. When it's all said and done, there can be no doubt it was Him and not the vessel He chose to use.
Seriously, don't let the irony of the above verse, and who penned it, be lost on you. It was written by Paul. The same man who viciously crucified Christians before becoming a cornerstone of the church and scribing a majority of the New Testament.
He's just one of many, and our God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11). Is there any doubt He will do the same for you and I if we let Him?
He can take your greatest sin and turn it into His greatest victory! Are you willing to give it to Him? I am!
Please remember this process requires faith and submission...
Seriously, don't let the irony of the above verse, and who penned it, be lost on you. It was written by Paul. The same man who viciously crucified Christians before becoming a cornerstone of the church and scribing a majority of the New Testament.
He's just one of many, and our God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11). Is there any doubt He will do the same for you and I if we let Him?
He can take your greatest sin and turn it into His greatest victory! Are you willing to give it to Him? I am!
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)This is His redemption! This is how He restores 100 fold that which the devil has taken and destroyed (John10:10, Joel 2:25-26)!
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26 ESV)
Please remember this process requires faith and submission...
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
If you revel in your sin and refuse Him, He will not force Himself on you. (True love never does.)
I'm not saying you have to be perfect. His grace and mercy abound. (Romans 5:19-21) But we're not to stay there. (Romans 6:1-2). He wants you healed and redeemed! He wants others to look at you and be jealous for His love!
For me, I know my sins are not the end of my story. They are the begging of my ministry. A ministry that, by the power of God, will shake heaven and earth!
I'm not saying you have to be perfect. His grace and mercy abound. (Romans 5:19-21) But we're not to stay there. (Romans 6:1-2). He wants you healed and redeemed! He wants others to look at you and be jealous for His love!
For me, I know my sins are not the end of my story. They are the begging of my ministry. A ministry that, by the power of God, will shake heaven and earth!
God bless beloved!
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