Used, In Spite Of...

COMMENTS

When I look at my life, I see things that I’m ashamed of.  Things I wish weren’t there.  But, amazingly, I also see times that God has used me.  Why would He do that?

NOTES

As I read my Bible, I find story after story about people who have messed up.  Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Samson, David, Peter, Paul—to name a few.  How would you like for your sin to be recorded in God’s Book for all to read, generation after generation?  No, thanks!  Yet, each of these people were used by God in MIGHTY ways.  Many of them are listed in Hebrews 11, the famous “Hall of Faith”.

How in the world did that happen?  It happened because God sees our sin, but He also sees our hearts.  The heart that loves God and longs to please Him, to see Him, is a heart that can be used.  And so, He uses it.

Like the rest of the human race, I’m a mess.  I’m a sinner (the subject of my last posting).  When I look at my life, especially some particularly wayward times, I wonder why God would even want me.  I don’t see myself as a particularly promising specimen for the Kingdom of God.

Yet, God’s Word tells us that God looks at us differently than our peers look at us or than the way we look at ourselves:

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  (1 Samuel 16:7)

And:

“Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”  (Jeremiah 31:34)

And, again:

“Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.”  (Psalm 32:1)

What does all this mean?  It means that when God looks at me, He sees not who I was but who I am in Him.  And who I am in Him is one who can be used.  He has used me.  I’m not worthy of that.  I don’t understand it.  But the fact remains that He has done it.  That astonishing fact gives me great joy—and purpose!  Where have I sometimes been the most useful?  In areas where I have sinned.  Once again, I see Romans 8:28 at work:  “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”.  Was my sin good?  Absolutely not!  Did God bring good out of it?  Absolutely yes!

So, maybe the title of this commentary is wrong.  My sin, in the Master’s hands, has been redeemed.  That which Satan longed to use to drag me down was used by God to lift others up.  He didn’t use me “in spite of”.  He used me “because of”.  Because of His grace.  Because of His mercy.  Because of His forgiveness.  Because of His love.