Are you willing and ready for God to greatly use you?

by Rev. Jack Richards on February 24, 2023

SEARCHLIGHT 

Are you willing and ready for God to greatly use you? 

SCRIPTURE 

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.   Ruth 2:11,12  NIV 

And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.  Ruth 4:17b  NIV 

SPOTLIGHT 

The teachers wrote on his report cards “Anthony has difficulty expressing himself orally… He does not think before he speaks… Anthony is still very impatient… Yells when he should be talking softly… Jumps out of his seat and shakes hands furiously to be called upon… He still waves his hands before ever listening to the question… Encourage him to get his thoughts together before he attempts to express himself… He likes to share his experiences…”  Certainly, his teachers did not know that God would greatly use Dr. Tony Evans as a pastor, teacher, author, and syndicated radio/television broadcaster. God has used him to influence his home city, Dallas, and the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Tony doesn’t have any problem expressing himself. He says “You have a unique fingerprint that identifies you. You are different. Let God use you like He made you. No matter what other people may say God has a plan for you.” 

You may think your past disqualifies you from being used by God.  Perhaps you disqualify yourself because of your appearance, family background or so-called lack of skills. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Read about Ruth and Boaz in the Scripture focus today. Ruth could have believed God would not bless and use her because she was not Jewish. She was a Moabitess. The Moabites were descendants of Lot. They were heathen. In addition, she was a poor, childless widow. But God specializes in taking an ordinary person to do extraordinary feats that bring glory and honor to Him. Ruth became the great grandmother of David. She was “richly rewarded by the Lord.” [see the above Scripture focus] 

Boaz could have expected God to overlook him. He was the son of the prostitute, Rahab, who was from Jericho. [Matthew 1:5 Joshua 2:1] Think about the home situation in which he was raised. What chance was there for him to be moral, honorable, and God-fearing? But Boaz was a strong believer. He married Ruth and they had a son named Obed who fathered Jesse who fathered David. Think about it. David’s great grandmother was a Moabitess and his grandfather was a half Canaanite. Both Ruth and Boaz were the bloodline which led to the birth of the Savior of the world, namely Jesus Christ. You are the recipient of the great blessing of salvation provided by Jesus Christ which came through these 2 very ordinary people.  

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things that honor Him. He will use and bless anyone to do great things for Him. All you need to do is to commit your heart, hands, and feet to Jesus. Ask him to speak through you. 

Ruth trusted God with her whole life. She left a heathen family and chose to become part of God’s family. Boaz trusted God with his whole life. He lived a pure life not knowing if he would ever be married. He came from an impure family and chose to live a pure life committed to honoring God. Look what God did through both of these ordinary people. 

Would you like God to use you? Your Heavenly Father does not look at your family. He looks to see if you are a part of His family. God does not look to see if you are capable. He looks to see if you are available. 

Believe this truth. God wants to use you! You must not allow any feelings of insecurity, insignificance, or inadequacy to lead you to believe that God cannot or will not use you. You can become an instrument of God’s blessing, just like Ruth and Boaz. God created you to glorify Him and display His character of love and grace in your part of the world. You have one life to live. Make it count. Ask God to use you. Give God the right to lead and guide you. You will be greatly used by God when you unconditionally commit yourself to Him. 

SOMETHING TO DO 

Make the lyrics of this song your prayer:

If You can use anything Lord, You can use me

Take my hands, Lord, and my feet

Touch my heart, Lord and speak through me

If You can use anything Lord, You can use me

Listen to this song on YouTube.

  

SOUL TIME PRAYER 

Heavenly Father, Almighty God, I will not let my feelings of insecurity, insignificance or inadequacy hold me back from allowing You to use me to bring honor and glory to You. Today I surrender all to You. AMEN! 

Tags: old, testament, ruth


Previous Page