God Can Use Anyone
There’s a catchy phrase going around right now, and I think the big secret of the world is that we all feel that it describes us personally: imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is the feeling that you don’t truly belong or have the necessary skills to do your job, and you are afraid that other people will find out that you are a fraud. So if God can use anyone, why would He choose to use me?
I am not a perfect person, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and over and over again I find that I’m making a mess of things. So who am I to talk about living a life rooted in Christ? I fail more than succeed, and I feel that God would surely want someone better to represent Him.
Thankfully, God gives us so many examples to turn to in the Bible to point us back to Him and His perfect grace. God can use anyone, and I am currently reading Nehemiah and how God unexpectedly used him.
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God Can Use Anyone
In the beginning of the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah learns that “[t]he wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3).
Nehemiah is greatly distraught by this news, and he turns to the Lord with a heartfelt prayer of praise and repentance (v. 5-7), pointing to God’s promises in scripture (v. 8-9), and asking for God’s favor (v. 10-11).
Nehemiah intends to travel to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. What is striking to me is that verse 11 ends with the line, “I was cupbearer to the king.”
When I think of the best person to rebuild a city wall, I think of a construction worker or maybe an architect. I don’t know if I would ever think to choose a cupbearer.
And yet that’s what God did. God placed this desire on Nehemiah’s heart to complete this task, and He equipped Nehemiah to do just that, starting with approaching the king and asking to leave to complete the task.
Through the beginning of this story, I noticed a few things that we can apply to our own lives when God puts a desire in our hearts.
Align your desires with God’s will.
Nehemiah 1:4
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
When Nehemiah hears the news of Jerusalem, he is distraught. The first thing he does in this scenario is to fast and pray before God.
He is upset and wants to do something about the situation, but he takes the time to take it to God first before taking action.
When we are faced with destruction, what is our first response? Is it to take it to God? Or someone (or something) else?
Like Nehemiah, we need to align our hearts to God first.
Praise and repent.
When Nehemiah approaches God in prayer, he first offers Him praise! He acknowledges God’s sovereignty first, and then he repents (v. 5-7). And he doesn’t just repent for himself. He repents for the entire nation of Israel, including himself and his father’s family. He confesses the sins they have all committed before asking for anything.
God can use anyone, but sin is the great divider between us and God.
When we approach God, we need to confess our own sins and repent before we ask Him for anything.
Recite the promises of God.
Next, Nehemiah recites the promises of God found in scripture (v. 8-9). He knows that God is willing to forgive His people, and Nehemiah recites this promise in his prayer.
Nehemiah doesn’t recite the promises of God because he believes that God forgot them.
Rather, he recites them as a reminder for himself that God does what He says He will do.
The best way to know the promises of God is by reading God’s Word for ourselves so that when we are preparing to do God’s work, we know what He’s able to do through us, even when we don’t believe in ourselves.
Ask for God’s blessing over your needs.
After Nehemiah was aligned with God’s will, he knew that the king he served could be a roadblock to his success. So after he aligned his desires, repented, and recited the promises of God, he asked for God’s blessing over his needs (v. 11).
When we are pursuing tasks outside of our comfort zone, we can get lost in the myriad of roadblocks just waiting to stop us.
If I were a cupbearer being asked to take on a vast rebuilding project completely outside of my current skillset, I would be overwhelmed and unsure of how to even proceed. But many times, that’s how I feel. I feel as if God is calling me into something that I’m unable to complete. In all honesty, He is. He is asking me to complete things that are outside of what I am capable of doing on my own. I need God’s blessing and favor. So when I see these roadblocks, I need to ask for His blessing over those needs.
Dear God, thank you for your willingness to use anyone. To use me. Thank you for your presence and calling in my life.
I know there are many tasks that you are calling me to complete, and I know that I am unable to complete these things without your blessing over my needs. Thank you for the example that Nehemiah sets for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
God can use anyone, and He absolutely does. If you are being called into something you feel ill-equipped to do, align your desires with God’s will, praise God for His goodness, confess and repent of your sins, recite the promises of God, and ask for His blessing over your needs. It can be scary, but it’s the safest place to be.
Blessings Friend.
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