“God won’t use me like He used people in the Bible. They’re
different. I’m not that good.”
I used to
think that above line a few years ago. No, I didn’t say it out loud, but
inside, I felt it to be true. God seemed to use the people in the Bible
differently from us today. To be used like Elijah the prophet seemed crazy, but
my thinking process was entirely wrong.
James
5:17-18 states, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it
would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced crops”
(NIV). The first time I read this verse,
I couldn’t (and still can’t) get over the line “Elijah was a man just like us.”
Elijah
was a man like me? A young woman who lives in the 21st century?
My thoughts ran rampant through my
mind, but the answer from the Holy Spirit and God’s Word was and is still
clear: God can and will use me like He did Elijah. I don’t have to be a certain
person or level of “goodness” because God makes me worthy to be loved and used
by Him, and God counts you worthy, too.
Maybe you have fallen into the lie
that you will never be used by God or that you aren’t good enough for God to
use mightily. Well, as James 5:17 says, you’re just like Elijah. He was human
just like you are. He struggled with doubt, fear, sin, and probably a million
other things, just like you. But, God decided to use Him still because Elijah
knew that God made Him worthy.
The next time you think God can’t use
you, remember Elijah and James 5:17-18. No, you probably won’t make a three
year drought start, but you just may help change a person’s life who has never
known God before.
And one last thought, not only did
Elijah have to be willing to let God use him, but he also had to be obedient to
God’s leading.
Living
Life Together,
Rebecca
Thomas
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