God Loves Using Imperfect People to Do His Perfect Will

All throughout our Christian life and walk with God, the enemy will try to use various tools and methods to hinder us from becoming who God has created us to be. One of the greatest tools that has handicapped many Christians is the crippling voice of condemnation. Condemnation has many different forms and voices — one of which whispers into our ear, “You will never be good enough. You have messed up too many times. There is no hope for you!”

Despite the nagging whisper of the voice of condemnation, I am so thankful for the stories in the Bible concerning divine reconciliation, restoration, and redemption. God has never used a perfect vessel except Jesus Christ Himself. When we think of the famous Biblical figures who did great things, they all had great flaws or things that should have disqualified them from being used of God. Jacob was a cheater, Moses came up with excuses of why God couldn’t use him, King David committed adultery and murder, Elijah suffered from depression and doubt, Peter denied Jesus three times, Timothy was too young by his societies standard, and Paul was a persecutor of the church that he would soon be a part of. Despite these setbacks, flaws, or character qualities, God still used these people.

When I was a teenager, my family had made the decision that it was time to move into a different house. The house that my parents had decided on was not a brand new, luxurious mansion, but was an older vacant rundown house that needed much renovation and repair. The house was an eyesore by all definitions, but as my mother walked through the rundown house, she was filled with joy not because of what she saw but because of the potential of what everything could be. When Jesus looks at us, He doesn’t see us as a dirty sinner who will never amount to anything, but He sees us at our greatest potential and all the things He could accomplish through us. Will we make mistakes? Yes; due to our human condition and frailty! This is not a license to sin or not to pursue excellence; but a reality that we often don’t want to confront. This is where we must depend on His grace to lead us to transformation.

We read in many Bible stories that despite failures and flaws, God’s people did not allow their setbacks to prevent them from accomplishing His will. In First John 3:20 it says, “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart.” Jesus sees our potential and has forgiven us, but we must see ourselves the way He sees us. Our heart may continue to condemn us and remind us of past mistakes, but when we abide in God and continue to persevere, He can transform us and get the glory from our life.