Can God Use You? - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, November first. Although it is natural to be preoccupied with ourselves, God urges us to prioritize others. By using our gifts with those around us, we manifest our love for them effectively. Let's listen to part two of Can God Use You? I want you to listen very carefully because this is a very serious matter. It's an extremely serious matter that oftentimes people ignore and think that God doesn't make any difference to Him. It's okay.

It's not okay. Very serious that a person lives their life and does not serve God when according to Scripture, He saved us for the purpose of good works. It is the will and plan and purpose of God to use every single one of us, no exception. You say, well now, you just don't know me. God's not going to use me.

I'm not finished. So, I want you to listen carefully. It is the plan of God to use every single one of us. You say, well, when does He start using us? It's amazing how God, what does the Bible say? A little child shall what?

Lead them. God even uses little children. God uses, listen, His desire is to use every single one of us.

And now that you and I have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have a command. Listen, it is crystal clear in the Word of God that no Christian has the right to sit and soak and just lap it all up and finally get sick and die and waste their life. It's not the will of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God, and God doesn't tolerate that. And I'm going to show you in a little while why He doesn't.

And so, it's His plan. God is the giver of every single thing that you have. And He gave it to you to recognize His Lordship in your life. And to recognize that you're a created being by Almighty God.

And that you've been saved and can be saved by the grace of God, that your life will count in the lives of other people as well. Well, somebody says, well, I would, but you know, let me tell you why. And so, let me tell you why I don't serve the Lord and do all those things you're talking about.

And so, let's just think about a few of them. Well, one of the reasons some people don't serve God is having poor self-image. Here's what they say. Now, don't question their sincerity.

But remember this, a man can be sincerely wrong. Listen to this, I just don't feel worthy. I just don't feel worthy to serve God.

Neither do I. We're all on the same level when it comes to worthy. None of it, not a single one of us is worthy of it. And you see, nowhere in the Bible does it say you have to be worthy. Look at the Apostle Paul. Here's a man who jailed Christians and he says, I was a violent aggressor. Did God use him?

Yes, He did. And so, this idea, I'm not worthy, that's inexcusable, it doesn't count. Somebody says, well, the problem is I feel very inadequate.

Well, join the crowd again. Because that's what Paul said. Paul talked about his inadequacy in Second Corinthians, that first chapter. He talked about how inadequate he felt. There's not a single one of us who is really and truly adequate within ourselves.

If we were and if we could be, he wouldn't have said, I'm sending you the Holy Spirit. He's going to be your helper. And here's what I want you to see. It's when you and I are challenged by God to do things that cause us to feel inadequate, what happens?

That, what does that do? It drives us to lean upon God, drives us to trust Him, drives us to rest in Him, drives us to look to Him, to give us strength and energy to do it. And you know what's happening all the time? We're growing. We grow by following God's leadership and guidance when He challenges us to do things that we feel very inadequate to do.

So, that excuse won't work. Well, what about the fact that other people can do it better than I can? And sometimes somebody says, well, I know somebody who can do that better than I can. I remember on one occasion when I was afraid to do something God was asking me to do, and I told God that night that, in fact, I told Him three people who could do this job, it was a terrible job.

It was a big job, monumental job. And I was afraid and I didn't want to do it. And I named three of them and I said, God, any one of these can do it better than I can.

Thank You very much. And I went to bed. But when I woke up, I had not convinced God. And what happened? I had to do what He asked me to do, which was painful and difficult and hard and you name it.

But it got done and it was done in a way that brought God honor and glory and so forth. But what I'm saying is He doesn't accept that. In other words, we all feel inadequate and we have these feelings. We want to compare ourselves to other people.

Then, of course, a lot of folks, their excuse is they want to major on their weaknesses. Well, you know, let me tell you what, I'm not the best of health and I couldn't teach and I couldn't work in a parking lot. I can't go to somebody's home and you know what, I just, I'm so weak, I never have been able to speak. Remember that Moses stuttered. I couldn't speak and so you asking me to tell somebody else what Jesus Christ means to me. Oh, I couldn't do that. Well, you know what, that's not acceptable.

Not in the eyes of God, it's not. But the simple reason, what did He say? He says, we have the strength of God. We're not to talk about how weak we are. Now, we all have our areas of weakness.

Everybody has at least one or more areas of weakness, things you have to watch for in life. So what? What did He say? He said, I'm going to send you a Helper. I'm going to send you the Spirit of God who will enable you. Every single one of us is, listen, has the potential of serving God in ways that we would not even begin to understand. All He wants is availability. And He doesn't want us comparing our weaknesses and our strengths with other people.

Nor does He want us majoring on that. Listen, what did the Apostle Paul? Paul said on one occasion, he talked about his inadequacy, but remember what he said in Philippians? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Not I can do all things, but all things through Christ who strengthens me. My God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He felt inadequate, but he also knew that his adequacy was in Christ.

And so he didn't go around talking about it. Then of course, there's a whole issue of people who've been programmed negatively from childhood. And the worst thing you can do to a kid as a parent is to say, well, you'll never amount to anything. You can't do that. You can't do this. You can't, you can't, you can't, you can't. You know what God's saying?

Yes, again, yes, again, yes, again. Because you see, God knows when that child is born and before that child was born, God knew exactly what that child was going to be able to do. Then there's another reason, of course. You know why some people don't serve the Lord?

It's a four-letter word. It's called L-A-Z-Y, they're lazy. They're lazy.

Think about this. Somebody says, well, I just don't have time. You know, that would take me a whole hour every week and I don't have time for that.

Wait a minute. Six days and twenty-three hours. Six days and twenty-three hours, you don't have an hour to give God. What? You don't have an hour to give God who gave you all the other days and minutes and hours and skills and abilities and talents and spiritual gifts.

You don't have an hour? You see, if you just, if you look at this from God's perspective, not serving God is a sin against God. It is a sin against God. Each one is to employ, He says, His gifts and talents and skills to help one another. And you see, because we can't see all the things that God wants to do and will do and can do, oftentimes we do nothing.

Then of course, a lot of it's just plain old selfishness, self-centered. You know what? People work and they say, look, you know, I have to work eight hours a day, sometimes ten. I come home on Saturday and I've got to clean the house, mow the yard, fix the car, wash the car. I want to know. And Sunday is the only time I have fought myself.

You know what? It just may be that if you gave God time for Himself, He'd fix some of those hours the way you're over here taking you more time. Listen, do you not realize that the greatest way to save time in a person's life, you mark this down, I challenge anybody in the world. If you spend time on your knees, that's what I say, on your knees in the Word of God, giving Him each day, giving Him time to give you direction and guidance and strength and energy for that day, you, it's the greatest time saver there is.

Why? Watch this, because God will take those minutes and multiply them. It'll take you a shorter time to do some things.

It'll be quicker to do other things. In other words, God knows exactly what He's up to. He wants us to serve Him. Life doesn't center in us, it centers in Jesus. And when we get that straight, you don't have to tell people they deserve God.

Get that straight, they want to serve Him. And then, one other reason people don't serve God, just pure old sin. You can, a lot of things fall in that category, just sin. And watch this, you will not serve God very faithfully and at the same time live in sin as a way of life you want.

It just won't happen. Now, with that in mind, to what degree does God want to use us? Well, let's put it this way. First of all, He knows the talents and skills that were innately yours. He knows, for example, when you were born, He knows exactly what you're capable of doing. So, He uses us to the degree, for example, that we have potential.

And no one knows their full potential. So, He takes that into consideration. He also takes into consideration our availability. Listen, can you imagine this, you would never say to your boss, Well, I'm just not available to work the last three hours today, thank you. I want you to think about how tragic this is. That a person says to God, I'm not available to give you my time. I'm not available to give you my money. I'm not available to help other people. I'm really not available to serve you.

Isn't that the most bizarre thing? That we would say to the Creator, to our God who saved us from hell, from eternal separation from Him, and we say, I'm not available. Availability. I'm not available to give you my time. I'm not available to give you my time. I'm not available to give you my time.

I'm not available to give you my time. Another thing is this, and that is our motivation. He uses us. Does He take our motivation in mind? Yes, He does.

Why? Because if we serve Him for pride and acceptance and all the rest, He cancels it out. Another thing that's important to God is a sense of humility, a sense of purity. And that is our moral purity.

That is how we think and how we act in our conversation, our conduct, and our character. All of these things are determining factors in the degree to which God uses us. And listen, this is why God can use the most unlikely people. He can take people that you and I would never choose.

For example, how many of us, think about this, how many of us think that we had three years of ministry and the eternity of mankind rested upon us, and we only had three years. How many of us would have chosen that motley crowd He chose? You know why I believe He chose them?

To say to all mankind, watch what happens. When I get the whole of a man's heart and he's fully surrendered, watch what I can do with a fisherman. I can make him the greatest preacher at Pentecost. I can give him wisdom and guidance and direction in the development of the whole church of the Lord Jesus Christ. God can use anybody under certain conditions.

Now, the last question I want to answer is this. How long does God want to use us for the rest of your life? Now, I want you to turn, if you will, to the ninety-second Psalm and then I want to talk about some here for a second too. Look in the ninety-second Psalm. And I want us to read a few of these verses here.

Beginning in this twelfth verse, Psalm ninety-two. The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree. That means be fruitful. He'll grow like a cedar in Lebanon, strong as big trunks and big limbs.

Planted in the house of the Lord, that is serving God. They'll flourish in the courts of our God. They'll still yield fruit in old age.

Now, old age to them in those days was a lot older than it is today. Still yield fruit in old age. They shall be full of sap and very green. That is life, the light, the sap's still flowing. Where the sap's still flowing, there's life and there's fruit and something's going on.

So, when you look at that, it's very evident that God intends for us to stay busy. Now, for example, when He says that we're to flourish like a palm tree. Now, if I should ask you, well, what does a palm tree have to give you? You'd say, well, coconut milk and coconut.

Listen to this. Besides food and drink, coconut offers the possibilities of housing, thatching, hats, baskets, furniture, mats, cordage, clothing, charcoal, brooms, fans, ornaments, musical instruments, shampoo, containers, implements, oil for fuel, light ointment soap, and many more. You know what that says to me? That all of us probably have a lot more to offer than we realize.

Most people think coconuts have absolutely no value after you've drank the milk and you eat the coconut, throw it away. You know, so look at all these other things. Now, with all that in mind, I want you to listen carefully. And what I'm going to read to you is humorous, but it makes the point of this whole sermon.

Are you listening? Say, amen. So, I want to ask you again, can God use you? And with that question, I want to answer it with this little quote. Noah was a drunk. Abraham was too old.

Isaac was a daydreamer. And Jacob was a liar. Joseph was abused and Moses stuttered. Gideon was afraid. Samson had long hair and was a womanizer.

Rahab was a prostitute. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal.

Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow.

Job went bankrupt. Peter denied Christ. The disciples fell asleep while praying. Martha worried about everything. The Samaritan woman was divorced a number of times. Zacchaeus was too small. Paul was too religious.

Timothy had an ulcer. And Lazarus died. God used every one of them, didn't He? So, let me ask you a question. Can you give God a legitimate reason for not allowing Him to use you? And the answer is what?

No, you cannot. So, what are you going to do about it? You say, well, I don't know what to do next. I can tell you exactly what to do next.

Here's what you do next. You simply say this to Him, Lord, I don't know what to do, but today I make myself available to You to serve You any way You want me to. To individuals, to more people than an individual, I'll serve You any way You want me to serve You, however You want me to serve You. Whatever You call me to do, the answer's yes. Now, I'm going to need some help, Lord, and You promised that help, so I'm going to trust You to show me what to do. I'm going to trust You to help me.

I'm going to trust You to enable me to do my best at whatever You call me to do. But Lord, from this point on, no more wasted time, no more wasted life, I want You to use me and I'm making myself available. Amen? Father, we love You and praise You and thank You for Your wonderful grace toward us. We don't want to waste our life. And I pray the Holy Spirit will sink this message so deep.

Let it have a hook in it. Let it be unshakable for all of these people who are so gifted and so talented and so skilled, and all of these people who think they don't have any of that. You said that each one is given a gift, and God, You're willing to use any and all of us. And I pray that every single believer who hears this message look at themselves, ask the question, and make the surrender. And Father, I pray for people who are unsaved, help them see every day is a wasted day when it comes to eternal things.

They may be accomplishing some things that are very impressive in the eyes of the world, and they may be good things. But without Your help and without Your motive and without the purity of the heart that You require, thank You for loving us, for giving us and being patient. But God, You know, patience isn't what You're looking for, but activity, led by the Holy Spirit. And that's my prayer in Jesus's name.

Amen. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of Can God Use You? If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.