God Uses Broken People
Have you ever made a mistake so big that it feels impossible to come back from? My pride has recently influenced some of my decisions, which caused us to leave our church and the work we were doing there.
Pride is such a sneaky sin – it convinces you that you are in the right and the other person is to blame for everything. And while we prayerfully made the decision to leave, I don’t believe that all of my actions were pure or acceptable.
I’ve spent the last six months dealing with the repercussions of my actions, and God has been humbling me and showing me the many ways that I was in the wrong in this particular situation.
My conclusion? I’m broken.
And once you get to that place, it can be difficult to move on. I wonder then, why would God even want to use me? He can see how broken I am. He can see how I am going to get it wrong. So why would He even bother?
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God Uses Broken People
Thankfully, the Bible is full of examples of God using broken people. One such example can be seen in the life of Simon Peter.
In John 13:37-38, Simon Peter tells Jesus that he would lay down his life for Christ, but Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him three times that very night. In John 18:15-27, we see His prediction come true.
After the crucifixion of Christ, I can only imagine Peter’s grief. Every single “what if” swirling through his head. What if I had been there? What if I had fought for Him? What if I could have saved Him?
Thankfully for Peter, he gets a second chance to express his love for Christ.
After the resurrection, Jesus reinstates Peter and gives him his calling in John 21:15-23.
Jesus appears to seven disciples (John 21:2), and the second Peter hears that the Lord is on the shore, he jumps from the boat and swims to get to him. Through their interaction together, we learn how God uses broken people.
God already knows our mistakes.
From the very beginning of Jesus’s prediction that Peter will deny Him, we learn that God knows the mistakes that we are going to make, even before we make them.
In this life, we are bound to make mistakes, but take heart. God isn’t surprised. He knows the mistakes you are going to make, and He is still waiting to forgive you and use you for His purposes.
God is waiting for us to come to Him.
With the shame Peter feels after denying Christ, it would be easy for him to avoid Christ. Instead, we see Christ waiting on the shore for Peter, and we see Peter abandoning his boat to get to Christ as quickly as he can.
God is doing the same for us. He’s still there, waiting for us to come to Him.
God is waiting for you to repent.
During their interaction together, Christ asks Peter three times if he loves Him.
By the third ask, Peter is hurt, declaring that Christ knows everything, so of course He knows that Peter loves Him. While God does know the content of our hearts, He is still waiting for us to express our hearts to Him.
This is for our benefit. We can accept God’s forgiveness when we repent and turn back to Him.
God will provide you with a way to move past your mistake.
After each ask, Christ gives Peter instructions for moving forward. Each time that Peter professes his love, Christ instructs him to care for His followers.
Once Peter’s shame is expressed, Christ shows him the path to take moving forward.
Because of the mistake that Peter made, he is better equipped to complete the tasks that Christ lays out for him, even to the point of death. As evidenced in Peter’s life after the resurrection, he went on with a desire to obey and glorify God because of his love for Him.
God provides the same for us.
Dear God, thank you so much for your love for us, even though we are broken people. I know that throughout my life, I will continue to make mistakes. My sin will get in the way, and I will make mistakes that I feel are too big to move past. But I know this isn’t true.
In your goodness and sovereignty, you are not surprised by my mistakes, and you are prepared to forgive me. I pray that when I do make mistakes, I will immediately run to you as quickly as I can.
I pray that I will learn the lessons I need to so that I can better serve you in the future. Thank you for your goodness. I love you and praise you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I am far from perfect, and I have made some mistakes in my past that I’m definitely not proud of. But in His goodness, God uses broken people, and nothing I have done has made me too broken to live my life for Him. He is simply waiting for me to turn back to Him.
Blessings Friend.
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