Unlikely Candidates

Have you ever felt like you could do something for God, but retreated because you were too aware of your past, or lack of qualifications, or uncertainty of exactly how you would do it? Does a dream flicker in your heart, but you don’t know what to do with it, yet you can’t get it to go away? Do you sometimes chastise yourself for thinking that you could really do something different, better, more than what you are right now? Are you afraid or ashamed that people might find out what you’ve done in the past if you step up and do something for God? Before you shake your head at yourself one more time or shrug your shoulders wishing you were different, take a look at the people that God chose to use and record in the Bible- prostitutes, tax collectors, adulterers, fishermen, carpenters, handmaids, drunks and more. God did not choose only pedigreed socialites with good behavior and perfect life plans, He chose unlikely candidates to serve in positions of honor, let alone serve an honorable God. Yes, He did use people who were faithful and sought Him, but He also used people who were not perfect and He didn’t persecute them for their pasts. God chose to bring people out of their chosen state of ‘misfit’ into His service. He chose people who didn’t pay attention, who shirked the responsibility He had given them, who defied Him and who denied Him. He chose people far from perfect to share His Perfect Love. In the Bible, God included details of imperfect lives He redeemed and utilized to witness of His love. For years I felt a call on my life to work for the Lord, but I cowered in fear of people finding out about the ‘real me’. I was not secure in my total Redemption through Jesus. I thought my worth was judged by the world, not paid by the Blood of Jesus Christ. Sometimes today, when I share how God has used every self-destructive, self-deprecating, self-centered decision and behavior in my life to create a beautiful vessel of His love, I have a twinge of fear that someone may ‘find out’ who I really am and what I have done. Then I remember to thank and praise God because He does know everything about me! He accepts me – He LOVES me! From studying scripture, I know that God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be forever. Therefore, if He chose imperfect people to serve Him before the birth of Jesus, and Jesus chose imperfect people to be His disciples while He was on earth, why do we think that today He will only choose ‘perfect’ people today? God is worthy of praise and awe under all circumstances -- embrace how much more praise is given to Him when He takes the used, shredded, disgraceful pieces of our lives and makes a beautiful vessel of His Love. Allow God to use you and be amazed by the works He accomplishes through you!