Can God Really Use Me?

Have you ever felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do something, but fear gripped your mind? Have you ever prayed, “Lord, I don’t know if I can do that. What if I mess it up?” I have had this happen so many times.

One day while I was in church, those fears started to go through my mind. After the service, I spoke to the guest speaker. I explained my fear to him saying, “I’m so afraid that I’m going to mess up and ruin what God called me to do. How can God use me? I don't know how to do what He is telling me to do.”

The speaker was so kind as he smiled at me and said, “The fact that you know you can’t do this on your own is the very reason God can use you. If you could do it and make no mistakes, you’d get the credit. He chose you, knowing He would get all the glory for it.” Those words set me free! I don't have to get it perfect. I just have to be willing to obey.

In Exodus 3 – 4, Moses has an encounter with God. God instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (3:10). Then God reveals the details of His plan to Moses (3:11 – 4:13). As I read the response from Moses, I’m reminded of myself.

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13 NLT)

That sounds a lot like me when I said, “I’ll mess it up. Choose someone else.” God did not choose someone else, but He did send help. God encouraged me through that guest speaker and God sent Aaron to help Moses.

As we continue to read Exodus, we learn that God did everything that He said He would do. God used imperfect people and God got all of the glory! He continues to do this today.

Recently, as I was talking to a pastor and friend, he mentioned that he feels that he cannot give couples marriage counseling because he has a failed marriage in his past. He has these thoughts even though he has learned from that experience and now has a very successful marriage. That fear is robbing him of opportunities to help the married couples in his congregation.

My pastor teaches that we learn three ways. The best way to learn is from other people’s success. A less favorable way is to learn from other people’s mistakes. The least favorable is to learn from our own mistakes.

I share these ways we learn so we can see that we, as imperfect as we are, can be used by God. We will make some mistakes. We will learn. We can help others learn through our experiences. God can use us with all of our imperfections, and He will if we let Him. Then, He will be praised! My pastor friend can teach from what he has learned from both his failures and his successes if he will not fear being unqualified and messing it up.

So, can God use you? Yes! Don’t let fear of your imperfection stop you from letting God use you. Just step out in faith, obey what God is telling you to do, and give Him all the glory.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.