Can God use you?
Well, of course He can; there is nothing He can’t do. But, what I mean is: Do you think you are worthy of being used by God? Are you good enough? Skilled enough?
Often, when we are asked to serve the Lord in any way, our kneejerk response might be: “Oh, I can’t do that; I’d just mess up, and that would reflect badly on God.” So you don’t mentor a girl or boy… or teach a Bible lesson … or read with students … or volunteer at a homeless shelter … the list goes on and on.
However, what I believe God wants us to understand is that – because of His unconditional love for us, and because He chooses to use His people as His own hands and feet – all we really have to be is available enough. He can and will empower and equip for the rest. And, often regardless of our skill level, when we (and our insecurities) get out of the way, the result will be a beautiful thing.
I was re-taught this lesson (I need to hear it over and over) recently, in the context of offering my gifts as a musician. After having played drums for more than a decade at Walnut Hill Community Church, I stopped attending that church in 2013 when I moved to Arizona for two years. I didn’t touch a drum set for more than 18 months and, rusty as an old nail, had just started playing again when I found myself back in Connecticut and at Walnut Hill. Suffice it to say that, while I was gone, the technical quality of the musicianship had increased a notch or two, but I had gone the other way.
I wasn’t good enough.
So I didn’t play drums. Not for a long time. But since it had always been a source of such joy, and the place where I could give this God-given gift back to my Creator, I soon began itching to get back behind the drum kit – just in a less technically advanced environment. Because, surely, I would never again be “good enough for the main stage.” I began playing at our church’s smaller campuses, where I wasn’t required to use the technology they used at the main campus. And, let’s be real: at a smaller church, fewer people would hear me mess up when I undoubtedly would.
But then a remarkable thing happened. People began to tell me that they were blessed by my contribution to the worship set. Just last week, a sweet gentleman who described himself as a long-time musician told me that my playing during the worship time literally moved him to tears. He praised my skill as a drummer.
Tears!? My skill? I am rusty. Rough, even, when a drummer needs to be smooth. I made mistakes … in the very song he said he loved the most. Is it possible, then, that God did something with what happened between the millisecond my sticks hit the drums and cymbals and when the sound hit that man’s ears? Something that transcended “skill” and went straight to “heart”? He could have. He might have.
But the bottom line is that my perfection (whether it was there, or it wasn’t) didn’t matter. Not one bit. Because when you love and serve the Lord – in whatever capacity you are called – and your passion to serve Him compels you, and your heart is in it, He takes your imperfections and makes them useful. Yes, He uses your offering to impact others. You are always good enough for God to use you.
– Lisa Siedlecki, Jericho Director of Communications