Calling All Failures
God uses the failed, weak and insignificant to do His will. Are you tired of hearing that people do not go to church because of hypocrisy? Either they say that going to church would mess with their hypocrisy or they simply do not like to go because they believe church people are hypocrites. Although this thought seems admirable, it actually is a delusion from the devil. We are all sinners (Romans 3: 23); therefore we are all unworthy to be in His presence. You know that God does not use our shortcomings as an excuse? The Bible is riddled with great men that had some great excuses, but God showed them that He could overcome [Moses (Exod. 3:11; 4:10, 13), Saul (1 Sam. 10:21, 22), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:6), Amos (Amos 7:14, 15), and St. Peter (Luke 5:8)]. When we use the excuse of hypocrisy, failures, weakness, or insignificance then we use these items as a trump card over God. We place these excuses as a priority for the actions of our lives rather than God. God wants to use you despite of your failures, weakness, and insignificance. The real question is if you are going to humble yourself and be willing to be used.
In Judges 6 we see the children of Israel doing evil in the sight of the Lord … again. As the Lord gives them over to their sin, the Midianites enslave them. Of course, the children of Israel are not comfortable with being enslaved and cry out to God. God tells them that He will send them a prophet. This prophet is Gideon. In verse 15, notice how Gideon responds, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
Gideon’s circumstance was that he was a slave. He was told when to work, eat and sleep. His life’s circumstance did not allow him a lot of freedom and was not conducive to accomplish God’s plan. Gideon’s history did not make God’s will for his life any easier. Gideon was part of a tribe, of which nothing noteworthy has ever happened. Nobody famous has ever come from the tribe of Manasseh … nothing special had ever happened out of the tribe of Manasseh. Gideon declared that the tribe of Manasseh was the least of all the tribes of the day. Gideon also used his age as a point of insignificance. He was the youngest in his family. He had the least experience, understanding and wisdom about life. Despite Gideon’s circumstance, history, and age, God had a plan for Gideon’s life. Paul writes to the church of Corinth, “but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise …God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1: 27).
We can see from the life of Gideon that there are two steps in connecting with God’s plan for your life. First, you must be humble. Humility precedes greatness. True humility is the partner to true greatness (2 Corinthians 2: 16; 3: 5). J. Vernon McGee states “there is something wrong with any Christian worker who is proud. God does not use the flesh.” Second, you must be willing to obey and serve God. In 2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10, Paul speaks to being willing to serve the Lord despite shortcomings. Daniel Block states that “Gideon does not realize that in Yahweh’s work it does not matter what one’s social position is; the authorization of Yahweh is all he needs. Having no experience with the divine presence, he cannot imagine beyond his own human resources (or lack thereof)”. You cannot have too little of money or too much money … you cannot have too little education or too much education …. You cannot have too little influence or too much influence. It is not about what you have or do not have … it is only about God.
Have you ever thought that the key to solving the issue of hypocrisy is to humble yourself and to be willing to follow and serve God? I believe it is at this point when your sin is no longer your god and you allow God to enter into your life. When He enters, He will fill ever crack, hole and crevice. He is so massive that there is no room for sin and God in your life at the same time. That is not to say that Christians do not sin, but there is a difference. When a true Christians messes up, they do not sit in the filth of the sin and host a pity party for all to see. They simply stand back to their feet, dust off the filth and keep following the Lord. They can do this because of God’s power (1 John 4: 4).
We have all failed. We are messy people. Jesus desires to love the mess out of you.
David Evans is the Senior Pastor of Springfield Baptist Church. For more information check out www.Springfield-Baptist.com.