Yes you can be used
I just spent the weekend with an amazing bunch of girls. Girls who genuinely love God and want to please Him. Girls that want to go where God wants them to go and do what God wants them to do. Girls who want to hear God and be used by Him. With that desire in our hearts, you would think that the sky would literally be the limit to what we can accomplish for God; but then WE get in the mix. Add to the above desires a little self doubt, some low self esteem and a whole bunch of paralyzing fear and you end up with a bunch of people struggling to move forward in their relationship with God.
In Exodus chapter 3 we find the Lord speaking to Moses from a burning bush. We get really stuck on the burning bush part of the story, but don't overlook that God is revealing to Moses his life's calling. God is describing to Moses what he is created to be; a deliverer of God's people! Moses HEARD the Lord speaking to him, and yet in chapter 4 of Exodus, we see how he responds to the Lord's words.
Exodus 4:1 "What if they do not believe me or listen to me?"
Exodus 4:10 "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant (aka in the present). I am slow of speech and tongue."
Exodus 4:13 "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Don't those responses sound terribly familiar? We want God to speak to us, that is why we are doing this study! We want to be used by Him, but when He does reveal His will, or speak to us, we resist! We naturally think "what are others going to think?" We make excuses, about how unqualified we are for the job; I haven't prayed enough, I don't know enough about the Bible, I have made too many mistakes, I can't speak to people" etc etc. And then, when the excuses run dry, we resort to begging God to send someone else.
If you have never read far enough in this story, you may not know that after Moses begs God to use someone else, "The Lord's anger burned against Moses." (Ex. 4:14)
Let's look at one other story in the Bible that is similar. In Judges chapter 6 we read a story about a weak, fearful young man named Gideon. Gideon, and all of Israel, were in captivity, and God called Gideon, to lead his people into freedom. Gideon was terrified at the idea, in fact his response was to recite to God how his family clan was the weakest in the whole country, and additionally his family was the weakest in his clan, and in fact, he was the weakest in his family! (Judges 6:15). God reassures Gideon that He will be with Him, but Gideon needs a "sign." If you have been around church for any length of time, you have probably heard the phrase "I am putting out a fleece." That phrase comes straight from this passage of Scripture and refers to Gideon placing a fleece on the ground and asking God to do various things to the fleece so that Gideon would know FOR SURE that God was with him. I have heard many Christians use this "fleece" method as a way to hear from God, but I have to disagree with this method! In Judges 6:39 we see Gideon saying to God "Don't be angry with me...." and then he asks for yet another sign! Both Gideon and Moses heard clearly from God, they were just so fearful that they made excuses and needed multiple signs to convince themselves that God really could, and WOULD use them!
How well can we relate to that? We hear from the Lord; we receive direction, or correction, and we cringe as we make excuses, ask for signs, or just flat out beg God to use someone else. Now that we all relate, what do we do?
First of all, I believe that we need to change how we view ourselves. We look at ourselves, and we see inadequacy. We see sin, pride, laziness and every other shortcoming that you can think of. And after we think of all of the things wrong with us, we proceed to beat the snot out of ourselves. While praying for girls this weekend, I could recognize those who were their own worst enemies as they walked toward me. They hang their heads and they wear the "I'm not good enough" clothing. That clothing doesn't fit well, it hangs on them and it is made of heavy fabric. The eyes of those who wear that clothing struggle to meet the gaze of someone who may tell them that they do, in fact, hear from the Lord and He does want to use them. I hear a whole host of "I'm not good enough" excuses, but in the end, they are all just excuses! They match up with Moses and Gideon as they point out to the Lord how weak and inadequate they are. Oh that we would realize that the more weak and inadequate we are, the more glory God gets! All through Old Testament Scripture God chose to show His power through Israel, a nation weak and full of sin and as a result he received the credit for the miracles.!
In addition to viewing ourselves in the right perspective, I believe we also need to accept God's grace. Look again at Exodus 4:14. Immediately following the phrase "The Lord's anger burned against Moses" Scripture goes on to show that God replies with love. Though it seems clear that Moses' complaining really ticked God off, God responds with suggesting that Moses take his brother Aaron along with him to help with the speaking. God was sympathetic to Moses' fear of being used; He didn't let Moses off the hook on his calling in life, but he provided him some help to see it realized. Similarly, though Gideon is afraid that God will be mad at his need for more "signs" God, in his love and patience, provides the assurance that Gideon needs to go forward in his God-given mission. To me, that is the epitome of God's grace; undeserved favor and patience bestowed on us.
Did you catch that? It's undeserved. That means NONE of us deserve God's love, mercy, favor or forgiveness, let alone do we deserve to be used by Him. If we will stop condemning ourselves, stop beating ourselves up and stop making excuses, we will be much more able to take what we hear Him saying to us and PUT IT INTO ACTION! Those who God calls, he always equips. That equipping may not be a phenomenal singing voice or the ability to preach, but it will mean that He will make the way for you and in the process He will bring glory to Himself. That is a relationship that I desire to have.
For Further Study
Read all of Exodus 3 and 4 and Judges chapter 6
Write down in a journal all of the things that Moses and Gideon hear the Lord say and how they respond
Write down how you can relate
Your Assignment
Post to the group what area you have been making excuses in, and how you plan to correct it.
In Exodus chapter 3 we find the Lord speaking to Moses from a burning bush. We get really stuck on the burning bush part of the story, but don't overlook that God is revealing to Moses his life's calling. God is describing to Moses what he is created to be; a deliverer of God's people! Moses HEARD the Lord speaking to him, and yet in chapter 4 of Exodus, we see how he responds to the Lord's words.
Exodus 4:1 "What if they do not believe me or listen to me?"
Exodus 4:10 "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant (aka in the present). I am slow of speech and tongue."
Exodus 4:13 "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Don't those responses sound terribly familiar? We want God to speak to us, that is why we are doing this study! We want to be used by Him, but when He does reveal His will, or speak to us, we resist! We naturally think "what are others going to think?" We make excuses, about how unqualified we are for the job; I haven't prayed enough, I don't know enough about the Bible, I have made too many mistakes, I can't speak to people" etc etc. And then, when the excuses run dry, we resort to begging God to send someone else.
If you have never read far enough in this story, you may not know that after Moses begs God to use someone else, "The Lord's anger burned against Moses." (Ex. 4:14)
Let's look at one other story in the Bible that is similar. In Judges chapter 6 we read a story about a weak, fearful young man named Gideon. Gideon, and all of Israel, were in captivity, and God called Gideon, to lead his people into freedom. Gideon was terrified at the idea, in fact his response was to recite to God how his family clan was the weakest in the whole country, and additionally his family was the weakest in his clan, and in fact, he was the weakest in his family! (Judges 6:15). God reassures Gideon that He will be with Him, but Gideon needs a "sign." If you have been around church for any length of time, you have probably heard the phrase "I am putting out a fleece." That phrase comes straight from this passage of Scripture and refers to Gideon placing a fleece on the ground and asking God to do various things to the fleece so that Gideon would know FOR SURE that God was with him. I have heard many Christians use this "fleece" method as a way to hear from God, but I have to disagree with this method! In Judges 6:39 we see Gideon saying to God "Don't be angry with me...." and then he asks for yet another sign! Both Gideon and Moses heard clearly from God, they were just so fearful that they made excuses and needed multiple signs to convince themselves that God really could, and WOULD use them!
How well can we relate to that? We hear from the Lord; we receive direction, or correction, and we cringe as we make excuses, ask for signs, or just flat out beg God to use someone else. Now that we all relate, what do we do?
First of all, I believe that we need to change how we view ourselves. We look at ourselves, and we see inadequacy. We see sin, pride, laziness and every other shortcoming that you can think of. And after we think of all of the things wrong with us, we proceed to beat the snot out of ourselves. While praying for girls this weekend, I could recognize those who were their own worst enemies as they walked toward me. They hang their heads and they wear the "I'm not good enough" clothing. That clothing doesn't fit well, it hangs on them and it is made of heavy fabric. The eyes of those who wear that clothing struggle to meet the gaze of someone who may tell them that they do, in fact, hear from the Lord and He does want to use them. I hear a whole host of "I'm not good enough" excuses, but in the end, they are all just excuses! They match up with Moses and Gideon as they point out to the Lord how weak and inadequate they are. Oh that we would realize that the more weak and inadequate we are, the more glory God gets! All through Old Testament Scripture God chose to show His power through Israel, a nation weak and full of sin and as a result he received the credit for the miracles.!
In addition to viewing ourselves in the right perspective, I believe we also need to accept God's grace. Look again at Exodus 4:14. Immediately following the phrase "The Lord's anger burned against Moses" Scripture goes on to show that God replies with love. Though it seems clear that Moses' complaining really ticked God off, God responds with suggesting that Moses take his brother Aaron along with him to help with the speaking. God was sympathetic to Moses' fear of being used; He didn't let Moses off the hook on his calling in life, but he provided him some help to see it realized. Similarly, though Gideon is afraid that God will be mad at his need for more "signs" God, in his love and patience, provides the assurance that Gideon needs to go forward in his God-given mission. To me, that is the epitome of God's grace; undeserved favor and patience bestowed on us.
Did you catch that? It's undeserved. That means NONE of us deserve God's love, mercy, favor or forgiveness, let alone do we deserve to be used by Him. If we will stop condemning ourselves, stop beating ourselves up and stop making excuses, we will be much more able to take what we hear Him saying to us and PUT IT INTO ACTION! Those who God calls, he always equips. That equipping may not be a phenomenal singing voice or the ability to preach, but it will mean that He will make the way for you and in the process He will bring glory to Himself. That is a relationship that I desire to have.
For Further Study
Read all of Exodus 3 and 4 and Judges chapter 6
Write down in a journal all of the things that Moses and Gideon hear the Lord say and how they respond
Write down how you can relate
Your Assignment
Post to the group what area you have been making excuses in, and how you plan to correct it.
posted by Di Beals | 4:29 PM
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