God’s grace is something that is difficult to fathom, and lately I haven’t been feeling worthy of receiving it. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, and my sole purpose is to lead a life that is pleasing to God. So, when more often than not, I fall short of the mark, I beat myself up over it. I would love to sit here and tell you that everything is “squeaky clean,” my past is immaculate, and my walk with God is on point. But truth be told, that is not the case. I’ve done my dirt and made more than my fair share of mistakes. Hindsight, I’m ashamed and embarrassed of choices that I’ve made and realize how undeserving I am of Gods love. Discouraged, I find myself begging the question: how can God ever use me with all of my flaws and imperfections?
Recently, I received what I think is the answer to this question. I had a chance to sit down and spend some time with my great-uncle Dick, and he shared something that really stuck out and resonated with me. He said, “God doesn’t go by ability, He goes by availability.” In hearing this I realized, I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to make myself available. That is not to be misconstrued for the justification of sin, but rather to make the point that God can and does use imperfect people. The apostle Paul says that we are dead to sin and we should no longer live in it just so that grace may abound (Romans 6). Therefore, we should never become complacent with our shortcomings, but we also shouldn’t allow them to dictate our lives. Look at Paul—self-proclaimed worst sinner—who became one of the Bible’s greatest leaders because he didn’t allow his broken past to hinder him from receiving the hope filled future that God had in store for him. Truth be told, when we are left to our own devices, we are not capable of accomplishing anything for God, but by surrendering to His call we become instrumental because it is His power working through us. So, the question of our inadequacy is a tactic that the enemy uses; he puts this question in our ear to breed doubt into our lives. If we don’t believe that God can use us then it hinders us from allowing Him to, and we are less likely to be receptive to His voice.
The story of the potter and the clay is one of my favorite stories in the bible because it exemplifies how God offers redemption amidst our imperfections (Jeremiah 18:1-11). In this passage, God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and told him to go down to the potter’s house where he would receive a message from the Lord that he was to share with the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. When he got there, he saw the potter making something at the wheel. Jeremiah noticed that the vessel that was made of clay had been marred and damaged in the potter’s hands; yet, instead of throwing it away, he made it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make. The Lord then spoke to Jeremiah saying, “‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’[…] ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!’” It is so encouraging to know that we are in God’s hands and that He doesn’t write us off or throw us out because of our imperfections; He looks at us and sees possibility, and if we turn from our crooked ways and yield to Him, He will shape and mold us into the men and women He wants us to be. The book, Every Life is A Plan of God, written by J. Oswald Sanders touches on this same story and alludes to this with a poem.
“Marred in the making, but with wondrous patience Takes He the clay Into His hands, and fashions slowly in His own way. Just what I was the world can only see— He looks beyond and sees what I can be.”
Sanders’ point is that irrespective of past failure, if we surrender to God, He can and will still use us.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the lord.’” My mom once said, “God loves to use the weak things of this world to confound the wise. God’s foolishness is greater than the wisdom of the world. So, never doubt that God can use you, no matter how small or inadequate you may feel. He delights in using earthen vessels to contain His glory.”
We all come from different walks of life, and we all have our flaws and imperfections. Fortunately, we have a God who is in the business of restoration, like a craftsman who can take an old hunk of rusty corroded metal and see past the rough exterior to the potential that it has to become something beautiful. With a little cultivation, He can take what was broken and overlooked and restore it to its working condition, giving it value, worth, and purpose so it can be of use again. This is the God we have—a God who offers beauty for ashes!
