Jacob was a liar. Moses was a stutterer. David was an adulterer. Ahab was a prostitute. Esther was an orphan. You may think you have nothing to offer and God can’t use you. He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Gideon is another one of God’s chosen leaders who argued that he wasn’t good enough. As soon as God called Gideon to greater things, Gideon began making excuses, allowing his insecurities and inadequacies to set limitations in his life. (sound familiar) Gideon argued, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family”. But God looked beyond Gideon’s insecurities. He knew who Gideon could be if he trusted in God’s power to work through him. God wasn’t limited by Gideon’s limitations, and He’s not limited by ours either. He didn’t want Gideon to depend on his own strength. God wanted Gideon to depend on His strength. God was going to conquer the Midianites, but He invited Gideon to join Him. And what about the women in the Bible? When you turn the pages from the Old Testament to the New Testament, you can tell something is going to be different for women. In the Old Testament lineages, women were rarely mentioned. However, in Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, five women are listed in the lineage of Jesus. Of course, Mary, the mother of Jesus is there, a teenage girl from Bethlehem. But who are the other four? Tamar who had an incestuous encounter with her father-in-law, Rehab, who had been a prostitute in Jericho, Ruth, who was a foreigner from a cursed people group in Moab, and Bathsheba, who had an affair with King David. I’m so glad these women were listed. This shows us we can never go so far away from God that His grace can’t reach in to save us, and then use us. Each of these women would have probably thought they weren’t good enough if they had known how God was going to use them in His kingdom. No matter what mistakes you’ve made in your past, first of all, know you’re in good company. Secondly, know that God loves using mess-ups who fess up and then step up to do mighty works for Him! Much Love….
EMMANUEL 