God Can Use Anyone!

My friend Mary Brown once sent me an email that I just happened to receive on a day when I was feeling down. I had been dwelling on my own problems and felt like I couldn’t do much right. The email read as follows:

The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember…

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Jacob was a liar
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Job had serious health problems and went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
Martha was worried about everything
Zaccheus was too small
Timothy had an ulcer…AND
Lazarus was dead!

Now, no more excuses!

Yes, God can and will use us in spite of our problems, our anxieties, and our past. But this email also put my concerns in perspective and reminded me that when we are about God’s work, everything else has a way of working itself out.

Let us pray: Redeeming, Healing God, we remember today that Jesus said we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We remember that you have blessed us in order to be a blessing to others. We recognize that our world is fractured and broken and yet we trust that you are at work to heal and make us whole again. Lord, we want to be the kind of people who work with you in that. We want to be the kind of people who make the world a better place.

We thank you for minds to think, eyes to see, hearts to feel, and hands to reach out. We offer to you today all that we have and all that we are. Show us, this week, how you want to use us to make a difference in this world that you so love. Amen.