Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

I’m Going To Live So God Can Use Me

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

“You can be anything you want to be.” Most parents have said those words to their wide-eyed child taking them in and responding, “can I really be anything I want to be?” Anything is so open ended that you wonder how you would ever narrow the limitless options to choose from. At the risk of getting in trouble with parents, I believe you can’t be anything you want to be because you weren’t designed to be everything. You were designed with a specific purpose in mind. And we all know, intuitively, that you have more power behind our efforts in life when you know the direction you are headed, and are focused on the vision and goal for your life. And that includes our spiritual life. God has a purpose for us. We are on mission for Him. We serve His purpose and not our own. We are called and chosen by Christ and it is in that authority that we can boldly step forward as His representative, His ambassador to our neighbors and to the farthest regions of the world.

Trying to figure out how to best serve His purpose seems as open ended as deciding what you want to pursue amongst unlimited options. But is it? In truth, it is not that complicated. Remembering our larger purpose keeps us hopeful when our day-to-day purpose seems less sure. We simply need to surrender our day to Him, and do what our hands find to do. I believe we walk in step with the spirit and that our steps are ordered by God as Proverbs 16:9 says. This doesn’t have to be laborious. Live each day with intention, having a plan, even a “to-do” list, but always understanding, when you give your day to God, your will yields to His will. Rick Warren explains it by saying: “You were planned for God’s pleasure, formed for God’s family, created to become like Christ, shaped for service, and made for a mission.”

Focusing less on ourselves and more on our Savior is undoubtedly essential to being used by God. In so doing, you can take the day as it comes and at the end of it you may find out you were able to cross many things off your list and in the mean time you were able to pray with a friend for peace in his life, or spending a few moments telling your waitress about church, or giving the boy who mows your lawn a few extra dollars because of the heat. It might be a teachable moment with your child or word of encouragement right when your spouse needed to hear it. It may not seem like a big deal, but it could be very well be God using you as His representative.

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California wrote an article entitled, The Person God Uses. He focuses on seven principles that apply to a person God uses. They are:

  • God uses people who realize they are weak.
  • God uses people who are faithful.
  • God uses people who study and live by His Word.
  • God uses the person who is patient and waits on His timing.
  • God uses the person who cares about lost souls.
  • God uses the person who sets himself or herself apart.
  • God uses the person who knows how to work with others.

The bottom line is God can use you.  Notice it does not say you need a seminary degree, or that you need to be able to translate scriptures from the original Greek. Or that you need to be intelligent or uber successful. Or charismatic. No you just need to be available and as you seek to live a Home Run Life,  God can use you no matter what base you are on at the time.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Consider a time where God has used you as His representative, or ambassador? What was the situation?
  2. What kind of fears or obstacles do you need to overcome in order to be used by God?
  3. How do we maintain the proper balance between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility? Are there checks to warn us if we are out of balance in either direction?
  4. Do you consider yourself part of the greater mission of Jesus Christ?
  5. Pray and ask God for opportunities to be used by Him on a daily basis.

 

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