How to be used by God

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

 “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

 Then I said, 

“Here I am! Send me.”

                                                    -Isaiah 6:8

        

    We all want to have a purpose in life. As humans, we long to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and impact the world positively (at least I hope it is positive). I remember being in class one day back in 4th grade thinking about life. I was sitting in Mrs. Schroeder’s history class and thought about my future. I wanted to be President of the United States of America. I shared it with my parents and they had a good laugh about it, along with my brothers, and I in my stubbornness wanted to prove them wrong. Looking back on it now I am absolutely glad that God had other plans for my life because I definitely do not want to be president anymore.

 

    Why do I share this story? Although I do not want to be POTUS anymore some passions still remain. These passions are positively leading people and being a part of something bigger than myself. Like I said at the beginning we all want this for our lives, but the honest truth is that only a few of us will ever reach it. How do we live this out? How do we be used by God?

 

  "Leadership BEGINS at the feet of JESUS." - Dr. Jay Strack

    

      This is one of the biggest lessons I have ever been taught about leadership and allowing God to use you. If you miss this then you will not be used by God. Not only is Jesus undoubtedly one of the greatest examples of what a great leader is like, but also all authority has been given unto him (Matthew 28:18). If you have missed the Gospel then dare I say that nothing else matters. As cliche as it sounds, Jesus is and always will be the MAIN point. When we submit to Him and the plans that He has made for us to bring him glory then we will start to see God move in our lives and start to use us. What does this really mean though? 

    If we want to look at one of the greatest examples of someone that was used by God then we should look no further than someone who was deemed, "A man after God's own heart." King David had his flaws at times but don't we all. This does not negate that he was one of the most influential people in the Bible. If you follow or know the story of David then you understand that he was highly overlooked at times even by his own father. However, whenever God was looking for a new king through the prophet Samuel we get this line when he was looking at David's brothers, 

 “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7

    Why do I want to highlight this part? The reason why is this... it does not matter what you look like, it does not matter what skills you have, it does not matter if you are qualified or not. If your heart posture is not right then YOU are disqualifying yourself from being used by God to your full potential. Notice I said "full potential" because by the grace of God, he will still use us but if we want to have a big impact and have Him use us in a big way then we need to have a heart check. Attitude is a huge thing that sometimes people overlook in life. This is evident in the difference between King Saul and King David. What really is "heart posture" broken down? Heart Posture in its simplest form can be broken down into three things: Attitude, Willingness, and Convictions.

 

 

    

     Attitude over Aptitude. Willingness over Ability. Convictions over Qualifications. These are all important to remember. If we have the right attitude, willing to do what God calls us to do, and have conviction whenever we go wrong then God will use us in more ways than we could possibly think or imagine. David puts it best in Psalms. 

"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

-Psalm 139:23-24