God Can USE ANYTHING!

Okay so we all would agree with the title of this post, I mean after all God created everything, so of course He can use it all right? YES! Would be our almost automated sunday school answer, like the recorded "leave a message after the beep."  The typical answer to such a wonderful and powerful question!

But what about when the rubber meets the road? What about in the everyday issues of life...do we really believe this? Better yet, do we live our belief out??

I have found today that I too often then not, say and believe one thing, and then my actions speak to the contrary of that belief or profession.

Take the statement above, "God can use anything", simple yet profound and of course I believe it...or do I???

There I was arriving for yet another weekend with the older couple. You see I have the wonderful privilidge of going and staying at an elderly couple's farm on the weekends sometimes and just taking care of them (making meals...giving pills....ect.).

So as I arrived yesterday with my little sister, I was thinking to myself "you know I love coming here and helping them out, and I really do count it a privilidge, but I am gonna miss going to church tommorrow, I am going to miss being challenged from God, guess there is always next week!"

Today I awoke (later than planned) but just in time enough to get down stairs and get breakfast ready before everyone else was ready for it ;).

The morning went fairly normal, I read from God’s Word in Psalm 119:8, and was encouraged by the truth that God will never forsake me, but you see the omnipresence of God is never just an encouragement but it is also a challenge, to live out His omnipresence, (you see already I am diving into the truth that we must live out what we believe.)

Well what would this look like? One might ask, well you see if we truly lived out the presence of God (another way of saying this is “fear of God”) if I truly lived out the truth that God truly sees everything I do, hears everything I say, and knows everything I think, then everything I did, said and thought would be in total alignment with what He truly wants me to say, do and think!

 In other words if I lived out the last half of the verse :that God will not utterly forsake me (although in the verse it is stated as a plea from the writer of the Psalm, but we always let scripture shed light on scripture so we know that this plea is always answered in the affirmative)

So where was I? Oh yes if I truly lived out the truth of the last half of this verse then I would truly live out the first half which states “I will keep your statutes.”

Now that is living FAITH! As I read that this morning I came away challenged from the Word of God, convicted of sin, and with a desire to set things straight!

And this was just at the beginning of the day! So much for thinking that I would not be challenged from God while here on a farm out in the middle of nowhere!

A little while later nana and I had “church”, I read to her from a Bible story book, and the stories that I read all seemed to point to Christ’s return and how we need to prepare for it. Coincidence?? I think not! Because it goes with my devotions earlier this morning…how?

If I was truly living out God’s presence and thus my actions, words and thoughts would be righteous then I think it is safe to say that I would not have to fear Christ’s coming! I would be totally ready to meet my Savior and tell Him and recall with Him what all He was able to do through me!

WOW! Coincidence is just God’s way of remaining anonymous!

And this was just mid-morning!

After lunch I decided that it was probably time that I give the Mrs. Some Bible activity books and a children’s Bible story book that I had found while cleaning our basement at my home.

And you might be thinking…why would I give an elderly lady something like that? Well you see she has Alzheimer’s, but the amazing thing is that this godly Christian lady still reads her Bible and enjoys reading Bible stories and things related to the Bible!

After handing it to her, she kind of shocked me when she said “Shall I read it to you?”

I was elated at this, for it is not often that she asks me to do something, it is usually I that has to iniciate things to do.

Anyways I called nana down, and we sat Indian style on the floor in front of her chair. And she began. She started with Jesus’ birth. This story I have heard countless times (as have you I am sure.)

But the thing about hearing it again and again and growing up with it, is that far too often the totally wonderful and miraculous,  too often becomes, everyday and mundane.

But not for this elderly lady!

She challenged my heart as she read because when she read the part about Jesus coming to earth as a baby she started crying, and it struck me that too often I don't fully grasp the truth and the love of Christ coming to earth! I mean this was the very SON OF GOD,

Leaving all the luxuries of heaven, the worship of the angels, to come to earth and struggle to survive as a poor carpenters son. To face ridicule from humans, to face his brothers day after day who denied His being God.

What it must have been like! To be able to show with the snap of His finger just Who He was, and yet to have to hold back! To ride a donkey instead of a horse. And this is just a small list folks, I could go on and on!

I mean here is an elderly lady who has Alzheimer’s and yet she still remembers the sacrifice fo our lord and Savior and it drives her to tears!...I mean when was the last time I got emotion over that?

Christ was worshipped today folks! Yes He was worshipped in many churches all across the world, but He was also worshipped today by an elderly lady at the end of her life, in a small farm out in no wheres ville, who cried over His sacrifice!

She reminds me of the lady with the two mites, both the Mrs. And that lady had not much to Jesus, but they gave what they could and that is where it really counts! That is where the rubber meets the road! Where faith is truly lived out!!

It was such an example to my sister and I and such a moving time something I wont forget and neither will my sister!  Can't wait to read again with her ;0)

You see God can use ANYTHING! Just when I thought I would miss an opt. to be challenged by Him cuz I was not going to church, He uses my devotions and then He used something that most people would never think twice about Him using.

He used a simple child’s book and an elderly lady with alzheimers to show this girl a thing or two about true worship and living faith!

Here I was thinking “Aw I will listen to her read and it will help distract her from her troubling thoughts (it is scary not being able to remember simple things…like the fact that this IS your house….and that man lying on the couch IS your husband…and that your mother HAS passed on…and not knowing where you are.).

HERE I was thinking I can serve her today, when in reality it was her serving me and being used of God to teach me some more about Himself!

And so you see God CAN USE ANYTHING! And there are no coincidences, just God trying to remain anonymous, but don’t let Him!

“Open our eyes LORD! We want to SEE JESUS!.”

It is never that God is not at work…it is always just that we are not looking for it! If you look for HIM you will surely FIND HIM!

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”

“Draw near to God and He WILL draw near to you!

Funny because I was kinda stuck in a rut and I asked God to draw me closer to Him just this past week and already He has used this weekend to draw me close!

GLORY TO HIM!