Lent: Day Thirty-six ~ God Uses Christians

“We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.” Billy Graham

God Uses Christians 

I know a few people who have asked, where is God today? We’re living in a dying world with nature rearing it’s ugly head in ways not seen in centuries past. With wildfires, drought, starvation, evil corrupting what’s left of society, where IS God?

While I’m not blind to the world around me, I see the fires, death and destruction all peaking at an all time high. Sometimes people feel God has forgotten us and just left us to fend for ourselves; He hasn’t left us, He is USING us.

When our cousin Mary died on the 20^th of March, we were hit with the shock then the sadness of her being so young. Didn’t Mary have more to do? Couldn’t she help from earth instead of heaven?

Since the age of sixteen Mary has been called to go on mission trips to Ghana to help the needy. This is what her entire short life was dedicated to. While I have never felt the call to go on a mission trip (they’re not trips as humans tend to understand) Mary devoted her life to helping others. She was a part of the Rotary Society and their mission was assistance to the needy.

Mary’s work for God was done. He used her in so many ways and even in death the donation of her corneas was going to make some family exceedingly rewarded. I know that from first hand experience. Her Light shone for all the world to see. Even when she herself was in excruciating pain and very near the end, her light, love and laughter drew a crowd who all wanted to pay their last respects to this Godly young woman.

God uses us for His work. While we might think our lives are insignificant, if you’re a Christian, He is using you in some way that maybe not even you know. People need to see God alive in you, not treated as a passing fancy one week, throwing out scripture the next. They need to see Him in you daily, which is how He stays alive in this world.

I have a friend with Parkinson’s disease and is fighting other illnesses as well. While she doesn’t understand why this is happening to her, I’m assuming God is using her. I think He’s using her to show others how to carry an illness with strength. Other people fighting illnesses will look to her and say, “How is she staying so strong?” And she’ll answer, “The power of God in me.” Having lived her life dedicated to the Church and to Christ they will see God living in her and God using her. She becomes a living testimony.

This is what God is using Christian’s for. To be alive in Christ! Be His voice, be His Word and be His rock. This is no small task either.

I often wondered where I fit in to the grander scheme of things. Am I being used? Well of course I am! I call to mind a sermon from Pastor Mike a few months ago. He was speaking on being used by God. He said that someone wrote to him and said that they felt insignificant and that all they could do was pray. He got all excited at this point and said, “ALL you can do is pray? That is one of God’s biggest jobs is to use people to pray!”

This is why I take prayer so serious. It cannot be undermined, it cannot be simplified, it has to be done with the power and strength of the Lord and with everything in you, not just a passing verb.

God is out in full force using Christian’s and we know it. Maybe He’s using you to care for an elderly person, maybe He’s using you as a Samaritan, maybe He is calling you to do mission work, maybe He’s calling you to be a Light to others so that they see Him in you, maybe He’s using an illness to show people strength or maybe He’s using you to fervently pray. Whatever the case may be, God is using Christian’s globally to bring forth the Glory of God.

So no matter how insignificant you may feel in this world, if you’re a Christian, know that God is busy using you in ways you cannot imagine. In life and death we are all part of the kingdom of God. Our testimony will live when our bodies are laid to rest. Our light will shine forth the eternal power of God.

Job 36:24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.