Can God Use Me 01/2011

Can God use you anywhere at any time regardless of circumstances, situations, inadequacies, disabilities, education, financial success or lack thereof? Are you limiting God based on your own thinking? Do you place limits on YOU by what you may believe are your giftings?

How about this? A young man, aged 27, Nick Vujicic speaks all over the world, an internationally famous motivation speaker from Australia. Oh, but may I mention he was born without limbs. That's right, no arms, no legs. Hmmmmmmmmmmm....how can HE possibly be of use to God with such extreme handicaps? How can God use him indeed?! Nothing is impossible with God, and WE cannot and should not put Him in a box to fit inside our mind's perspective of the world.

How big is your world? Is it large enough to include a person with physical or mental impairments and acknowledge that God has a purpose for them in his tapestry of life? Is your world big enough to allow God to use YOU with your flaws and imperfections or at least the ones you think you have? Could it be that those parts of you that you may not even like are the very reasons God wants to use YOU?

Recently through the holiday season I was given an opportunity with Wal-Mart.com. This warehouse is very large containing literally millions of dollars worth of merchandise which is shipped out to retail stores and customer's homes. My work was in the Exceptions Shipping Department during this time. As happy as I was to have work, there was concern of handling a physical job in a place with very high noise level. The concern was communicating on the job as my natural speaking voice was impacted from a bout with laryngeal cancer. After discussion with the HR Manager it was determined that I remain in the department based on my knowledge, experience and ability to work with the computer. To her my voice was a non-issue. That was God's plan.

My job was to research the missing products left out of the customers' carton. This research involved determining a location of the missing product and physically fetching the item(s) which involved climbing three levels in the warehouse. The work became very strenuous each day as I walked the warehouse, up and down three floors, and packing ad shipping out the cartons. The computer work involved standing all day during our 10 hour shift with only two 20 minutes breaks.

As I began to understand the gravity of the job and the physical toll to my body and my breathing, I was concerned whether I could keep the job. I found myself very fatigued and feeling sick from breathing the dirt and dust everywhere. I needed the job so desperately I knew my only hope was to cry out to God, my heavenly Father. He promised to hear every cry and to give strength to the weak.

Day after day as I climbed the stairs tears would fill my eyes from weariness and illness. I recalled the Holy Spirit's message that we were to come to God for Everything. I repeated those words every day. As I worked at the computer I softly sang songs of praise to God. I found strength would return to me and I was able to finish my shift. By Thanksgiving we were working 6 days at 12 hour shifts, and again I called on God for help. I reminded Him of what He said to our congregation a couple of months before that when we tried to solve our own problems we failed but rather we were to come to Him with our problems. In fact He wanted us to come to Him for EVERYTHING. I took Him at His Word and as I did, HE filled me anew with strength, energy, and wellness in order to complete my work. I stayed through the peak which was a total of seven weeks before being laid off; longer than I ever thought possible.

As God strengthened me physically on a daily basis, He also opened opportunities to share with co-workers. There was an appointed time that He ordained to speak to individuals on a one-on one basis. As I saw God's timing and how He placed people in my path amidst a noisy environment to hear of God's grace I was in awe. I never dreamed communication would be possible and that I be enable to share God's love even with my voice limitations.

God more than proved Himself faithful. My trust in God has served me throughout the years and many times I've experienced His miraculous power in my life and in other's lives. However, this was a very unique time of taking God literally at His Word, walking by faith, walking out faith, using the power of prayer, speaking out Scriptures, and using the power of praise to magnify God. God's power is released in us and upon us as we look to Him and walk in His ways. He will do this in YOU and YOU will be able to be of use to His kingdom no matter where you are or who you are.

As Scripture says in Ephesians 3:20 - Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or even imagine according to the power that works in us. This indeed was true and is true not only for me, but for you as well.

01/2011