Having grown up in a strong Christian family which showed up to church whenever someone was there I have been in thousands of services and been a part of just as many events, banquets, fellowships, and celebrations. Through all of those meetings I have heard a common saying over and over; "God will us anyone with a willing heart to serve Him." What is that supposed to mean? As a child there was no choice in Christian service. Either you would left home all alone or you were going to be a part of the church; and the choice was easy for me because my parents made it for me... I was going to be a part of the church.
Now, as an adult I have seen something. I have seen that God is willing to use anyone who is willing to serve Him. (If that sounds familiar to you it is because it is the same quote used earlier.) In recent studies I have done, this theme has been bouncing off the page at me. Over and over again we see that God will use anyone regardless their strengths, weaknesses, background, or social status. Here are a few of the people in scripture that have stood out to me lately as proving this statement true.
Noah. Genesis 6.8 says that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Why? Was he some super business man that was well equipped to fund the larger missions project in his time of history? Did he have a church with an amazing worship band, world class pastor, and have everyone tithing? No. He wasn't even in ministry as we think of it today. What made Noah so great is in Genesis 6.9, "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." That is it. He is great because he was will to do what was right and continually walk with God. He simply had a willing heart to do whatever God wanted him to.
Abraham. The father of all the nation of Israel, and even that of Palestine. Abraham is noted as being the faithful of the faithful but why? He was born into an ungodly family. (Actually, they were very "godly"... they had one for everything.) He worked in his dad's idol shop. He travelled in his family as they sought their own desires. He lived secular life. How did he become so great in the eyes of God? God saw much deeper than what was on the surface; God saw the heart. God was the potential of Abraham, the faithfulness within him, and the obedience he would have. The first time we see Abraham see God (the one true God) is in Genesis 12.1 when he gives him a simply but difficult order to leave his family and his homeland. God's judgement of choosing a father for his future chosen people proves itself from the beginning as Abraham obeys. Again, a simple person with a willing heart to serve God.
Jacob. Jacob may be the grandson of Abraham, but a lot had changed by then. Jacob was a greedy little fella who was out to get everything. So, how could God change him into a patriarch of the faith? This one is a little more like most of the people I know; we are greedy, we want what we see, and we would rather give our energy to fight God than serve him. Jacob goes through the first part of his life living it all about him. He is following the philosophy that he has one life to live so he will get as much as he can during it. All goes well in his eyes until God calls him out of his comfort zone in Genesis 32 to face those who he had trampled down in the past. God sees him through and sets him up for a hard-learned-lesson. Verses 24-30 Jacob wrestles with a mystery man (Most believe this, being the Angel of the Lord, is a Christophany; an appearing of Christ before being physically born of Mary) who doesn't give up fighting him until dawn. At the end of the fight Jacob has his leg thrown out of joint and set straight as far as who is in control here... God is. Through the fight we can see something very important about Jacob; he fought all night. He was willing to stand up for what he believed it. He was strong and courageous even in the face of God. Do see what I see? Jacob had the strength and courage to do great things, he was just channelling it the wrong direction. It is very easy to take the talent God has given to us and use it to our own advantage instead of God's. Jacob found out that his strengths were intended for God and he begins to follow after God's plan from there.
God is willing to us anyone with a willing heart to serve Him. The saying is true, but is it true in your life? The people who we think of as being great are nothing more than ordinary people who are willing to serve and extraordinary God.
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