Send to Kindle

The other day I heard a lady’s testimony about some very difficult things she’d gone through.

Her life was scarred, she felt worthless and unworthy. She felt as if she wasn’t able to be a vessel of honor for God.

She’d been told she wasn’t good enough. She’d been told she didn’t measure up, that she was a disgrace and had become something she couldn’t recover from.

Then God showed her, in a powerful way, that it was never about her at all.

God doesn’t use you or me because we’re without flaw…because we have a great character or use wise words. He doesn’t use us because of us.

God uses us IN SPITE of us.

And that’s how His glory shines.

His glory covers us completely when we let Him pick us up and use us.

Beware when your attitude starts to be one of telling people to look at yourself, at how wonderful you are, or how many great accomplishments you’ve made.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Do we look at our standards and pat ourselves on the back because they’re so strict?

On the other hand, do we look at our standards and pat ourselves on the back because they’re so informal and all-inclusive?

Do we try to prove to ourselves how close we are to God by how much we do to serve, either in the church or community?

Do we point to our own strength of character as the reason God was able to use us?

The lady I mentioned earlier – she had this dream where hands came down and picked up her scarred vessel and just held her close. As I was listening, I thought she was going to say that those hands opened and had made her into a beautiful vessel, one that was now honorable.

One that shone on its own.

But no, instead she said those hands stayed clasped and tipped – pouring out only good things now. And I realized that is more what the Bible is trying to teach us.

While we are a new creature in Christ, that new creature is not what should get the attention. The attention is on those Hands of God, clasped tightly around us, and letting good things flow out of us now, no matter how scarred a vessel we had become. The thing God requires of us is to allow Him to pick us up and use us.

About the Author:

Sherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.

Sherry Chamblee can be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com Or check out her books at http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Chamblee/e/B00BA06RJ2/