How Can God Use Me?

by Charleen Burghardt

You may ask, “How can God use me?” Do you feel ordinary and believe you possess no special talents or gifts?

Often, we examine our flaws and weaknesses to conclude that God can’t use us. We make it all about our qualifications or lack thereof. Perhaps we make excuses to ourselves and to God.

How Can God Use Me?

Moses responded that way when God called him to go back to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery. At the time God spoke to Moses, he was a herdsman in the desert. He had fled from Egypt forty years before because he had killed a man. While he was watching his sheep, he beheld a bush in flames; yet the plant remained unconsumed. As he drew closer to investigate, God spoke to him from the bush. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt ” (Exodus 3:10 NIV).

Reluctant Moses

Moses took exception to God’s call to go to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world. “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” God answered, “I will be with you.” Moses objected twice more, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me?” God answered him with signs to convince Pharaoh. Perhaps Moses argued because of a speech impediment. The summons from God remained despite Moses’s excuses and protests.

God said, “I will be with you.”

God, in his faithfulness, provided everything Moses needed to perform signs and wonders before Pharaoh, ensuring the deliverance of an unarmed, enslaved people.

I felt like a reluctant Moses when God called me to write, defending my lack of ability. I looked at my struggle with dyslexia, and I realized that writing was difficult for me. My arguing did not dismiss the gentle nudges God gave me. Like Moses, I made God’s call, all about my qualifications or the lack thereof.

Possibly, God seeks individuals possessing flaws. Maybe God is looking for those who have been broken by life and mended by his mercy. What if the summons is about knowing we are helpless and hopeless without God?

Can God use me?

It is not about us. It is about what Jesus can do through us.

Similarly, God spoke to the Apostle Paul about his limitations. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9,10 NIV).

I reasoned with God because of my disability and my flaws. I wondered: did I possess anything to share? Would anyone listen? For a while, I put authorship aside. However, God prompted me to write again. Hesitant, because of my shortcomings, however, I obeyed by taking writing classes and learning all I could.

 As with Moses, God said he would help him speak and would teach him what to say. (Exodus 4:12). As with Paul, God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

All God desires is our availability, faithfulness, and teachability.

Availability, faithfulness, teachability

When we are weak, God is strong. When we feel we are unqualified, he makes up for the lack. When God calls you to a task, to speak, to go, or, as with me, to write, God will enable and empower you. “I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says, ‘Do not fear. I will help you,’” (Isaiah 41:13 NIV).

Finally, I understood my response is to be available. Writing became showing up as a chaplain in print to walk alongside my readers.

For you, following God’s promptings only requires obedience.

Obedience

The remaining part is up to God to be adequate in your flaws and weaknesses.

Yes, God can use you! Let him surprise you.

Reflection:

Do you have a gentle nudge from God to do something?

Where does God want to use you?



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