Can He Use Me?

Do you ever feel useless?  Do you wonder how, and why, God would use you when there are so many more qualified people around?  I do. 

I tend to sit back and let others use their gifts.  I fear failure.  I fear uselessness.  I fear the unknown.  I am being sinful.  I would rather do nothing and not fail than go and DO and risk being exposed as not perfect. 

God is the only One who is perfect.  We are to strive toward perfection, but we cannot attain it in this life.  He has given us great gifts to share.  We sin when we say, "No, God, I don't think I am good enough to use the gifts You have given me.  I think You made a mistake when You blessed me with this gift - it is meant for someone else."

Our Heavenly Father does not make mistakes.  He gifts us each differently.  We are to work together as a body to carry out His works.  An arm cannot carry a meal to a new mother if the feet don't take the body to her.  In that way, we all need to use our unique gifts together for the good of the Body of Christ. 

This verse came through 411GOD recently.  I often struggle with feeling too young to do much of the work God has for me.  I look quite young and get treated like a child often.  God assures me that He CAN and WILL use me!  What power!

1 Timothy 4:12-16 (New Living Translation)

12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.

Do you know what your giftings are?  Have they changed as you have grown?  I came across a spiritual gifts test this summer.  While no human-created test can tell us each and every gifting we posess, this one opened my eyes to gifts I had overlooked.  How are you gifted?  How are you using those gifts?  How can you Be The Blessing to someone else with your gifts?