11/23/2019
Do you wish that God would use you, but haven’t heard His voice? Well let me ask you a couple of questions. The first is... Have you prepared yourself for God’s use, and the second is this: are you listening for only a certain type of calling... maybe it’s one that is meant to glorify you alone, or then again perhaps it is something that is less than what God has planned for you?
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:20-21 ESV
God uses both those who are good, and those that are bad, to achieve His purposes. Sometimes the ungodly things in life, that are perpetrated by the worst of people, teach those who seek after God the most valuable lessons about their faith. Have you ever stopped to think about the people, and nations, in the Bible who were terrible, and yet used by God to achieve His will as it pertains to His people? Let’s look at what the prophet Habakkuk tells us that God says about the Chaldeans...
“"Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!"”
Habakkuk 1:5-11 ESV
Yes, God uses those People, and things, whIch are ungodly, but they are eventually cast to the wayside once their usefulness to Him is over. So we should prepare ourselves according to His Word so that we are ready for honorable, and not dishonorable use. In our preparation we should be careful not to confuse what the world values as good for what God sees as treasure. We shouldn’t see ourselves as victors here on earth, and think that this means we are necessarily honorable vessels of God, and thus heavenly champions. God uses all things to achieve good... even by manipulating the bad. So cleanse yourself for His good use.
“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
Then once we have prepared ourselves properly as honorable vessels, and we are asking Him to make use of us, what do we desire for Him to do with us? Is our own heart’s desire to serve Him in obedience with His will? How about what He sees as best for us, and our walk of faith? Are we wanting to be used in great increase like Abraham but God’s desire is for us to be meek like Moses?
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV
Perhaps we wish to be mighty when what God sees best for us is weakness. When was David at his best; when he was the young shepherd boy who sang to God, and defeated Goliath, or the sinful King who slept with Bathsheba, and killed her husband? Sometimes we wish for the things that appear to make us the greatest servants of God, like wanting to be king, when in fact those things will tempt us beyond our limits, or maybe even cost us eternity. The last are said to be first for a reason, and the first likewise are said to be last.
“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last."”
Matthew 20:15-16 ESV
So why is it that you wish to be used by God but you haven’t heard His voice yet? Could it be that you are listening for the bellowing of a Bull, when you are being spoken to by the sound of a hummingbird’s wings? Is God calling you to serve meals to the hungry in a soup kitchen, but you see yourself as a Bishop in a large cathedral? Or, maybe it is visa versa? How has the Lord set you apart for His use, and are you open to His will for you?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your will for me, and for the ultimate joy I will receive by obeying it. Teach me to hear your voice Lord, and to bend my own imperfect will to conform to yours. Humble me when I need humility, and make me strong when my spirit is weak. Do what is best for me in every circumstance, and work all things for my good. Open my ears, and give me understanding through your Holy Spirit so that I can be made to please you best, and my faith made perfect. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who transforms me by the good and the bad in my life to become more like your Son Jesus every day. Great are you who makes me less when being more would pull my spirit down. Praised be your name for the highs, and lows, that you lead me through as I am made righteous. Merciful are you Father for sending your Son to redeem me, and to abide within me, and I Him. I worship you by day and night as I give all glory to you for the grace you have poured over me from your perfect vessel Jesus. In this, my body, whether wood or gold, I pray you place what pleases you most, and use me now, and forevermore for your glory and pleasure.
“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 ESV
Rich Forbes