This morning I was remembering a large women's conference that I spoke at years ago. There was a big crowd and as I left the stage, two young women stopped me. They were wide-eyed and breathless as they asked me to sign their Bible. Then they said, "We want to do what you're doing! How can we do this?" My host tried to rush me past them, but I couldn't let the question go unanswered. Smiling, I asked them three simple questions:
1. Why do you want to do this? (It cannot be for yourselves.)
2. What are you doing for God right now? (Be faithful with a little, and He'll trust you with more.)
3. Who do you think I am? (God doesn't use us because we're "special.")
They were a little stunned by my answer and I had to hug them both before walking away. I knew they thought I was "something special" because God moved in the service while I preached. But I knew the truth. I knew God came and ministered to the women because He loved them AND He loved me. I knew my humanness. That's what made me smile.
I knew that this "great woman of God" lost her slip one day in a Big Boy Restaurant in front of a large group of church members; that she stepped into the wet cement of the new sidewalk at the church and lost her shoes; that she tripped going UP the stairs at her new office at the United Way building; that she got her heel stuck inbetween two joined platforms at another large conference and lost her shoe, nearly falling in front of several hundred women; that she forgot she was wearing a lapel microphone in the old days when they were hooked to the sound system by a cord and accidently walked too far forward, pulling then entire system to the floor!
Need I say more?
God is GOD. He doesn't use us because we've earned a special ranking in the kingdom. He doesn't show up when we teach or preach because we are extra-special to Him. He comes because He loves. It's as simple as that. When we walk in simple love and obedience to Him; when we keep our hearts and lives focused and pure; when we seek Him in study and prayer and serve in simple ways, we simply position ourselves to be used by Him. There's no earning God's gifts - they are freely given. There's no earning His Presence or miraculous manifestation. He comes because He loves and has found a daughter positioned and waiting for Him.
In a world that pushes for perfection and demands a drivenness for success, isn't it wonderful to know that God honors simple love and obedience to Him? God can use ANYONE!
Submitted by: Carla Ives; Heart Cry International
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My husband and I were in Bible College in Texas, and came home to visit our family in Illinois. We of course went to my home church on Sunday. It's a very small church, and the preacher and most of the congregation stand in the foyer to greet the people. I walked in and shook hands with the preacher, shook hands with some of the elders of the church, and gave a high school boy a hug who I'd known for years. He had a big smile on his face and I thought "aww..that's nice he's happy to see me". Finally my husband drags me into the coat closet and says "Nik...your dress is unzipped...ALL the way". So that's why that teenage boy had a weird look on his face! You see, I'm a multitasker. And I'm sure as we were leaving for church I was doing several things, and didn't zip up my coat. But when we got to church, I thought i was unzipping my coat, except it was my dress. Well, I did have a shirt on underneath that dress, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. But I don't think I ever wore that dress again!
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