A movie that came out in the late 60’s or early 70’s was called, “The Candidate.” It was about a young man from a prominent political family who decides to take on the incumbent for a run at the U.S. Senate. The film shows the young man learning to take control of his campaign from his advisors (and when to use their advise), and, of course, at the end of the film, the young, inexperienced candidate gets elected. The final scene of the movie has a joyous celebration in the hotel being used for election night headquarters. The candidate is alone in his room, when his chief advisor comes bursting into the room. There’s loud, joyous noise coming into the room from the hall when people are partying and celebrating. The advisor closes the door, they chat for a bit, then he tells the senator-elect that he needs to join the celebration. The new senator looks at his advisor and says, “What do I do now?” Before the advisor can fully understand what he’s being asked, the door bursts open and he’s dragged out into the hall to join the party. The candidate is left alone in the room to ponder, “What comes next?”
I believe that many people who come to a saving awareness of Christ often face that same question shortly after their conversion experience. For believers, though, the question that is most often asked is not what comes next, but “What can God do with me?”
Why Do We Ask That?
There is a long list of people in the Bible who ask that question at one time or another. It is very rare for God to approach someone and that person immediately step up and say, “I’ve been waiting for the call.” (Abraham seems to be one who never questioned God’s calling, but he’s that rare exception.) Moses went so far as to tell God to go find someone else (Exodus 4:13). Gideon insisted that God confirm the call with a few tests (Judges 6). Samuel was confused by the calling, assuming it was someone else doing it (1 Samuel 3). Saul tried in vain to avoid become Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 9-10). There are others—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary—who maybe didn’t tell God “no” outright but who did question how it was possible for God to use them.
One of the reasons we have a difficult time with the awareness that God can use us personally is because Satan likes to remind us how unworthy and incapable we are for the task God wants us to do. He reminds us of our sinful past, or our youth and inexperience. He reminds us of our lack of knowledge of spiritual things (as if we expect God’s called to be instantly familiar with the Bible, able to quote it in its entirety). For most of us, knowing ourselves and having such a high regard for God and His ministry, we naturally assume that we are not worthy to be used by Him for anything. As long as Satan can convince us of this, then we are unable to be used by God for His kingdom purpose.
Sometimes, we come to accept that God can use us, but only for a small thing. I have a friend who has been a dedicated follower of Christ for as long as I’ve known him. We first met at the Baptist Student Union when we were in college. He went on to get a degree in law enforcement and became a parole officer in one of Texas’ larger cities. For years, he led music for churches, first as voluntary and interim positions, then he took a position as a bi-vocational music minister, all the while working at his secular job. It wasn’t until he was in his late 40’s or early 50’s that he realized God had been wanting him to be a pastor. So my friend retired from the county, went back to school for training and found a part-time pastorate in the area. God was using him, it’s true, but not in the way God has always intended to use him. Now, he is where God wants him, doing what God wants him to do, being what God always intended him to be.
Sometimes, we accept Satan’s message to us that we aren’t quite good enough to do exactly what God wants us to do, and we settle for what’s good, failing to realize that what God intends is what is best.
Can God Use Someone Like Me?
The short answer, is, yes, of course God can use a person such as me to do His will. Look at the giants of the Bible. We recognize them as giants because great things were done through them. But the key to them becoming giants of the faith was not their inherent greatness, but their willingness to be used by God.
God’s tendency is to take the small things and make great things of them. For instance, when Jesus fed the 5000, it was by taking the lunch of fish and loaves carried by a small boy that was used to feed them (cf. Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 10:10-17; John 6:1-13). When God chose to proclaim the birth of Christ, He went to a group of shepherds (cf. Luke 2:8-20), people who were so unreliable that their testimony was banned in courts of law. It was with the initial testimony of 11 followers that God built the world-wide Church.
God uses the foolish to bring forth wisdom (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25) and He uses the insignificant to create greatness. According to Genesis 2, God’s creation of man was with the use of soil.
So, yes, God can use someone as seemingly insignificant as us to do great things. The key to having great things done through us involves two main things. First, there must be a willingness to follow. Isaiah initially considered himself unworthy to stand before God—“Woe is me! I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). But God sent an angel to touch Isaiah’s lips with a coal from the altar and the assurance that his “guilt is taken away and your sins atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). Then, when God called out for someone to send, Isaiah understood it was he who was being called, and he responded to the call with, “Here am I. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8b).
When God confronted Moses at the burning bush, Moses made all sorts of arguments against why God had the wrong person, ultimately telling God to find someone else. Nevertheless, when God gave the ultimatum to Moses, Moses relented and went where God sent him and said what God told him to say.
Moses’ final response to God’s call is the second part of how greatness can be achieved. Moses was obedient to God, and God did great things through Moses.
“Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
The point of Jesus’ words is that the work of the kingdom is done not by the called, but the One who calls us. He works in us and through us to achieve His will. When we try to do things on our own, we fail, and fail miserably. Look at Moses’ first attempt to free his people. Not only did Moses not free anyone, but instead he was forced into exile and remained in a world of spiritual silence for 40 years. It was only after Moses decided to yield to God’s will that God was able to do great things through him.
Paul was the same way. He learned the lesson of obedient surrender on the road to Damascus and over the years of letting God live through him. There are numerous examples in the Old and New Testaments that show us how God can use those He calls once they make themselves available to Him and make themselves obedient to Him.
Lest we think that God’s calling is always for something great, we need to realize that more often, His call is to be faithful to Him in the lives we are currently living. As we listen to His word, through prayer, Bible study and awareness, through worship and fellowship with other believers, we become aware of His direction and we are more willing to let Him live through us.
The living of a faith-based life is the key to being used by God. Peter writes, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-9).
What Peter is saying is that we grow each day and in every way as we walk in obedience. As we put our faith to the test, we find it reaffirmed—“Hmm, it really works!” That faith increases in others areas of our fellowship with God. The knowledge Peter speaks of us a knowledge that grows from experience, not reading and instruction. As we walk with God, in obedient faith, our faith is reaffirmed, and we constantly grow in Him. As we continue to grow in Him, He is able to use us more effectively.
The beauty of God’s ability to use us is that He can start using us as soon as we yield to Him. He takes us where we are and begins to shape and mold us, bringing us into conformity to His Spirit and His will (cf. Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:12-13).
Conclusion
There are many of us who think that God can’t use us. We think we don’t have the proper education, the keen awareness, the holy life that God requires of those He calls.
It’s important to remember, though, that God’s salvation is given to those who are unworthy of that precious gift. No one has ever come to God through making themselves “good enough.” If salvation is the proffered gift of God while we are still enemies, then why should we believe that God suddenly changes the requirements once we become His children?
To be a child of God is to be worthy in His eyes, and if God considers us worthy, who are we to question it? When God saves us, He does so not just to give us eternal life, but to live in His ways and follow His leadership through His Spirit. We follow the model of Christ. This is a call to everyone who calls Jesus Savior and Lord, and it is expected that we will be obedient to His commands as a result of our love for and trust in Him.
So, yes, God can use you and me, and He can do great things through us if we will only let Him.
© 2018 Glynn Beaty