Lighthouse Church Durban
God wants to use YOU!
God has re-created us to do good things - in his eyes, we are "the right person for the job"!
He works in us and through us - with HIS power!
It's not about who WE are, it's about who HE is.
It's not about our ability, it's about our AVAILability!
It's not about people being impressed with US, it's about them being impressed with Jesus!
Exodus 3:7-4:13, Ephesians 2:10 & 3:20, Isaiah 6:8, 2 Corinthians 10:10 & 4:7
- Broadcast on:
- 19 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
Hi there, welcome to the Lighthouse Church sermon broadcast. The title of today's message is God wants to use you. How do you feel when I make that statement? God wants to use you to minister to your community. I suspect that many of us have some serious reservations about this statement. Many of us can immediately offer some really good reasons why we are not suitable candidates for ministry. Even if we reluctantly agree because we know it's biblical, we still feel inadequate. Now if we feel insecure or inadequate, then it is unlikely that we will step forward when we see ministry opportunities. We will more likely look at the task, look at ourselves and say I couldn't do that. I'm not the right person for the job. Now I don't say this to criticise anyone. If you feel inadequate for ministry into your community, I can assure you that you are not alone. Many of us look at ourselves and honestly we can't see why God would want to use us. Some of us can see some really, really good reasons why God would not want to use us. Now the Bible has some great stories of people who were convinced that God could not or should not use them. I think one of the greatest examples is Moses. Moses had a lot of convincing reasons to exclude himself from any call to ministry. He had tried once before trying to step up into the role of the deliver of his people but his attempt was a dreadful failure. His own people didn't accept him and he had to run for his life for murdering an Egyptian slave master. So when God called him later on, he was clearly surprised and he presented to God a number of reasons why. He was really not a good choice and you can find the whole account in Exodus chapters 3 and 4. But here's a summary of his reasons. Exodus 3, 11. Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? Moses had already tried to rescue his people and fatal dismally and he had pretty much burned his bridges with Pharaoh by killing an Egyptian. Next one, Exodus 3, 13. If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, they will ask me, 'What is his name? Then what should I tell him?'" Moses had been raised as an Egyptian, not as a Hebrew. So he didn't know very much about the Lord. Exodus 4, verse 1, "What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say, 'The Lord never appeared to you?'" Moses was concerned that he had no credibility with his people. He had already been rejected by them. Then Exodus 4, verse 10, "Oh Lord, I'm not very good with words. I've never been and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied. My words get tangled." Moses was not a good speaker. How could he convince the great Pharaoh? And finally, Exodus 4, verse 13, "Lord, please, send anyone else." At the end of it all, Moses really didn't want to go. There was surely somebody better for the job. Now, I've heard some people criticize Moses as a man who was full of excuses, but I can understand his very serious self-dance. Think about it. He had tried before and failed dismally. He didn't really know God. He was not recognized by his people. He had angered Pharaoh. He had some kind of speech difficulty. He really did feel incapable and unqualified. Surely, he was the wrong person for the job. And perhaps you can identify with Moses in some way. Perhaps you look at yourself and you come to the same conclusion that Moses did. You simply don't see yourself as qualified for ministry or as capable of ministry. You don't feel that you have anything significant that you could offer to God. Now, in many ways, this is absolutely true. We are all absolute grace cases. We are all saved because of what Jesus has done, not because of what we have done. So, in a very real sense, we stand before God pretty much empty-handed. All we have to offer is ourselves, and we're not particularly impressive. But you know what? That's actually all God wants. All he wants is us. All he wants is you. Now, when you and I look at ourselves, we may not see much potential. Like Moses we may see weakness, failure, sin, rejection, inadequacy. But God sees something else. Listen to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. When God looks at us, he doesn't look at our broken past. He sees his new creation. He sees a masterpiece. He sees his plans for us. He sees us doing his plans. Those things he has prepared for us to do. So, when God looks at you and I, he sees the right person for the job. You and I are the people who he created to do those things. You are the right person for the job. And God doesn't look at our weaknesses and at our limited capabilities as we do. He sees what he can do in us and through us. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20. Now all glory to God who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. God is not thinking about our inability. He is thinking about his ability. He is thinking about what he is able to do in us and through us. Myra Brooks Welch read a poem called, "The Touch of the Master's Hand." This poem tells of a bettered old violin that is about to be sold as the last item for an auction. The auctioneer thinks it is hardly worth anything. So, he starts the bidding at $1. But then, a highly skilled violinist steps out of the audience and plays that instrument and demonstrates its true value. That violin then sells for $3,000. I think this is a great illustration. On our own, we can't imagine ourselves as having much of an impact on anyone. But in the hands of the master, we can have a magnificent impact. Right now, you and I may feel like bettered old instruments. Maybe we are. But in the hands of the master, we can still produce beautiful music. As some people have said, it's not about our ability, it's about our availability. We come to God with such limited abilities. But then he works in us and through us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think as the Bible tells us. So, the very real question is not, are you able to minister to others? The question is, are you available to minister to others? I know that in business and industry, people are selected for a position because they are regarded as the best candidate for the job. The employer looks for people who have the skills they don't need to do the job and preferably who have experience that demonstrates these capabilities as well. But God doesn't work that way through us. He looks for a person who is available to him, who is willing to be an instrument in the master's hands. The young Isaiah had a vision of God and it's recorded in Isaiah chapter 6. Listen to verse 8. "Then I heard the Lord asking, whom shall I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." Notice the Lord didn't ask, "Who has the necessary skills to be my messenger?" He asked, "Who will go?" In other words, who is willing? Who is available? I hope this makes sense to you. I hope that you can see that the Lord sees you as the right person for the job, as the one who he created, to do good things for him. I hope you're now wanting to say to the Lord, "Here I am. Send me." But perhaps you still have one concern holding you back. You are worried about those who you will go to. God may be convinced. Great. You may now be convinced. But what will they think? I wish I could tell you that those who you go to will see you as the Lord does, but it's quite likely that some of them won't. Listen to the Apostle Paul quoting some of his reviewers, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10. For some say, Paul's letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak and his speeches are worthless. Paul had a powerful message and a tremendous impact on many people and places, but in himself he was not particularly impressive. Some critics compared him with trained speakers, so-called super apostles, and they found them disappointing. Perhaps you compare yourself with some people who you see as super-Christians and you're afraid that you will be disappointing. And let's face it, where people are looking for a really impressive person, we are all likely to disappoint. But where people are looking for God, or for his word, or for his working, those people won't be disappointed. And here's the truth that our hope will set you free from feeling the need to impress people, because I think many of us do, we want to impress them. It's actually helpful when we are not personally impressive. Now I say that again, it's actually helpful when we are not personally impressive. Think about it. Who do those people really need, us or God? Do we want them to be impressed by us or impressed by God? Do we want them to put their faith in us or in Jesus? Listen to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 7, "We now have those lights shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure." This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. When God works through us, and it is clear that we could not have done that on our own, all glory goes to him. But faith is put in him. Friends, we are fragile clay pots. We may even be correct butts, and that can actually be helpful. Friends, I sincerely hope that this message helps set you free from things that have been holding you back. The Lord has planned good things for each one of us to do. He has recreated us for these very purposes. We are the right people for the job. You are the right person for the job. If we will surrender ourselves to him and ask him to work in us and through us, he will amaze us with what he does. Remember, it's not about who we are. It's about who he is. It's not about our ability. It's about our availability. It's not about people being impressed with us. It's about them being impressed with God. So let's offer ourselves to the Lord as clay pots and battered instruments. Let's ask him to put his treasure in us and to play magnificent music with us. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]
God has re-created us to do good things - in his eyes, we are "the right person for the job"!
He works in us and through us - with HIS power!
It's not about who WE are, it's about who HE is.
It's not about our ability, it's about our AVAILability!
It's not about people being impressed with US, it's about them being impressed with Jesus!
Exodus 3:7-4:13, Ephesians 2:10 & 3:20, Isaiah 6:8, 2 Corinthians 10:10 & 4:7