Do you believe God can’t use you until you have corrected all of your flaws, until you are perfectly pressed and without wrinkle? I hope not. I have a news flash for you, there are NO perfect people in this world. However God doesn’t use us because he has no other choice; he uses our life experiences and pain so that we have empathy for those going through the trials that he has already helped us persevere through. If we have never been in their shoes then we usually can’t relate very well to the hardship of their challenge. In the Bible, God doesn’t use the people that think they have it all together, he almost always uses those that are the most “messed up” in society’s eyes. I truly believe that he does this in the stories of the Bible, as well as through us today, to show us that he is not a God of perfect people. 

Rahab the prostitute who protected the messengers and who was included in THE LINEAGE OF JESUS!

Joshua 6:25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Matthew 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab (full lineage Matthew 1:1-16)

Moses who describes himself as slow of speech and tongue Exodus 4:10 who God used to lead the Israelites out of the slavery of Egypt

Exodus 14:31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. (Full encounter Exodus 3-14)

Gideon whose clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and the least in his family Judges 6:15 he used to lead battle and achieve victory.

Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. Judges 8:8 (Full encounter Judges 6-8).

There are many examples where God literally used the VERY least in society to achieve amazing triumphs. Dare I say, the further you have fallen the greater capacity God has to use you! Giving God the glory for your healing speaks louder than anyone spewing self righteousness. He wants us to come to him broken and trust him enough to believe he will guide us to victory. We also need to trust his purpose in it. We can’t clean ourselves up enough so that we are worthy of his chosen purpose for our life. If we are capable of FIXING OURSELVES up then we don’t have need for God anyway!

God USES our pain so that souls we meet in the same struggle KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that we have been hunkered down in the same trenches and we TRULY understand the hopelessness. I don’t think there is anything that brings people more hope and draws individuals closer to God than listening to someone else share their story which is similar to the one they are living through right now. When we share about the victory on the other side and profess the strength we found in the Lord we are drawing the lost to him in a way that may not be able to be accomplished any other way. Your testimony is one of your greatest assets to share the gospel because nobody can argue with you over what God has done in your life. Your pain is your platform to share the love of Jesus. There are so few places to find hope in our world these days, but there is no hope like Jesus.

Part of my husband’s testimony is that he really felt when he went to church the first time in his late 30s that surely the building would burst into flames if he set foot in the door. Much to his surprise, and many others I have since talked to, the church didn’t ignite and they found the love of Christ and forgiveness there. God isn’t waiting for us to be “clean enough” to set foot into church and he isn’t waiting for us to “have it all together” to encourage others with what God has given us the strength to walk through. He isn’t waiting for us to be in the “right place” BECAUSE our all-powerful, all-mighty God is plenty big enough to use us where we are RIGHT now. We ALL have trials that we have overcome and we can use that strength to empower others in Jesus name.