You Are Worthy (Part 2)

“I am the Lord’s servant,” ... “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:26-38)

Letting God use you

Now that you’ve read all about Mary and Elizabeth and are inspired by their determination, resilience and obedience. You may have also reflected on your past and your own personal trauma wounds. 

If you are wondering what on earth I’m talking about, then that means you haven’t read the first part of Your are Worthy. That's ok, just go and read You Are Worthy Part 1 and it will all make sense. Then I'll meet you back here in a bit!

Now if you are sitting there thinking this is me, I haven’t been trusting God or I’ve dismissed plans or assignments God has given to me because I didn’t think I was the right person to do it or it was the wrong time. Don’t worry we have all been there at some point in our lives. You also might be thinking it’s too late for me now. Well while your heart is still beating and you have air in your lungs, it is never too late because of two gifts our loving God gives to us even when we don’t deserve them- His grace and mercy. God’s mercy is Him not punishing us when we go against Him and God’s grace is Him giving us gifts we don’t deserve.

Turn away from the past

So if this is you, all you have to do is repent, repent means to turn away. Acts 3:19 says “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out”. So you repent to God through prayer and say sorry for not trusting Him and that you will not do that again- you are turning away from it. Then ask Him to use you for good and for God’s purpose. When you do this our God will wipe the slate clean like it never happened and then you can start to discern God’s word and let Him use you to achieve great things for the kingdom.

How do we let God use us?

Follow God’s decisions

So once we have got past our trust issues with God and say sorry to Him, how do we let God use us? Well the first place to look is the famous well known prayer, and if you are over the age of 35 you most likely know it off by heart by saying the traditional version everyday at primary school, I’m talking about the Lord's Prayer and line “thy will be done” or if you know the modern version “your will be done”. We are saying we will do God’s will. When we let God use us, it’s to do things that are for God’s will, things that God wants done, not things that we want done. Doing things that only we want done can lead to selfish desires, which can lead to acts of sin, which can ultimately lead to separation from God. This is further highlighted in Colossians chapter 3, verse 23 ”Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”. 

Read the best self help book

The next thing you can do to let God use you, is to read your Bible. The importance of this is perfectly illustrated in the parable of the sower told by Jesus, in Matthew 13, verses 5-6 it says:

“Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root”.

In this analogy Jesus sums up what will happen if we do not develop strong roots through reading and studying the Bible at home on a regular basis. When God is using you and everything is going well that’s great but God will use you during hard seasons too. So we need to be equipped with knowledge of God’s word which you can only get by reading your Bible to allow us to develop strong roots, as a weekly sermon can only help so much. Doing this will enable you to know how to lean into God’s word and navigate the storms with God by our side. Without this biblical knowledge the next hard time we encounter as believers in Christ, will cause us to lose trust in God because we had no roots.

Follow YOUR calling

The next thing to remember is that God has a different calling for each of us. If you have that overriding feeling to do something that is for good, morally correct, legal and not of sin; and no matter what you do you can’t get the thought out of your head, then that is most likely the Holy Spirit telling you that this is your purpose or at the very least your God willed assignment for this particular season.

If you feel passionate about a issue but it frustrates you that others in your life don’t seem as passionate about making the change as much as you want to; for example if you are passionate about ending poverty but it annoys you that when you talk about it, you aren’t met with the same passion, then this isn’t their calling, it’s yours to kickstart it, at least in a small way in your local community.

If you are passionate about telling people about the Lord and again it frustrates you when others aren’t, then God doesn’t want to use them. God may want to use you to be part of a street ministry or another type of community ministry.

If you are driven to help people and you don’t understand why others aren't that bothered about this, then it’s not their calling it’s yours, maybe God wants you to trust Him and you take the leap and apply for the nursing course, or teaching course or you make the application to volunteer for a charity.

Find your people

The final one is to make sure you spend time around like minded people who are in awe of God, who love the Lord and are also letting God use them. They will help guide you which will help you not veer on to selfish goals and pursuits, as Proverbs chapter 18, verse 1 says “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgement”.

Now we can go through wilderness seasons where God is preparing us for the next phase He has for us. Jesus went through this for 40 days before He started His ministry. However God did not design us to be in the wilderness forever. We are social creatures and long term isolation can create a space for the devil to use his lies to influence your thoughts to convince you that you are not good enough, that you are not the “right” type of Christian or that you are not smart enough for God to want to use you. This is because the devil does not care what you do or how you do it, as long as it ends with you separated from God mentally and spiritually. 

The devil is like the thief that John describes in chapter 10, verse 10 in the book of John. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. So we are to be mindful and as it says in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 “be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”.

The first thing Mary did after the angel Gabriel left, was visit Elizabeth. Mary didn’t isolate herself and let the devil try and talk her out of what she had just experienced, instead she sought a like minded God fearing person, Elizabeth, who gave her further confirmation that it was God’s desire and not Mary’s.

The rescuer

In Jeremiah chapter 1, God told Jeremiah that he will be a prophet of nations and this was planned by God from before He formed Jeremiah in the womb. In the next verse Jeremiah told God that he was too young to be a prophet. To which Jeremiah explained God’s reply in verses 7-8 “But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord”.

God is with us, so don’t say you are too young, or too old, or too poor. Don’t think I can’t help that person because I’m white, I can’t help that person because I’m black, I can’t help that person because I’m Asian. Don’t think I’m a woman so I don’t think I can do that. Don’t think I can’t quote scripture, so I can’t tell people about the Bible. Don’t think I live in the wrong post code or I went to the local state school therefore God can’t use me. If God has willed you to do it then you can do it because God has said Himself do not be afraid, He is with you and He will rescue you.