From The Dumpster, & Into To A Clean And Usable Vessel Of God
Recently I found a pair of work shoes in a locker room trashcan, and I examined the shoes, and saw that they were still in good condition. The only problem I saw was that they needed cleaning. My thoughts after finding them were, “ shoes are still in good condition, and why would someone throw away a good pair of work shoes?” Well, I began to clean up those shoes, and while I was doing this some friends came in and asked where I got the shoes from. I told them, “I found them in the trash can, and I thought I would clean them up, and put them to use.” One of my friends asked, “ how can you do that, take something out of the trash, clean it, and them wear it?” I really did not give much thought to his question, but later it became apparent to me why I got the shoes, and cleaned them. Everything I was doing was symbolic, and I was acting out what God does to every man. You see, man was born into sin, and sin makes us dirty before the eyes of God, and in essence, we are like trash in a trashcan until God takes us out and cleans us up. Once we get through the cleaning process God then puts us to use for his glory. Before any of us came to the Lord our lives were like trash, and our minds were like the gutter, filled with unclean thoughts and desires. And just like clothing we wear, God has to wash us clean time and time again. That’s why David wrote, “Wash me fully from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Psalms 51:2. I know that everyone would like to think that they never sin, but this is untrue. We either sin in thought, by words, or by our actions, in some form or way we sin. The Lord not only wants to cleanse us of sin, but make us usable in his service. God uses us in one-way or another, but our primary duty is to witness to the unsaved. Witnessing is one of the ways God uses us to bring others into his kingdom. Another way God uses us is in letting us go through painful situations, by which we learn through our experiences in how to minister to others who are hurting. I’ve experienced bad relationships, failed marriages, and financial disasters, but it all was for my benefit, to enable me to minister to others who find themselves in similar situations. Just about everything we go through is to teach us how to react, trust in God, and be able teach others to do the same. If I had never gone through a bad marriage or relationship I could never minister to someone who is going through a separation, or divorce. You cannot give any guidance or advice on anything that you personally have not experienced, because it would be like me trying to tell you how to bake a cake when I have never baked one before. God is teaching us through the storms he allows in our lives, and if we don’t learn from the first storm, he’ll allow us to go through another storm of the same caliber. I remember many years ago praying to God to use me to help people. Well, things started going wrong in my life after that and I begin to go through trials and tribulation. It would be years later that I would learn that God was answering my prayer; I had to go through many painful things in order to be able to help others. How can you comfort a person who has just lost a young child? Only if you have lost a child yourself will you be able do this. But the trials we endure are intended to do more than just teach us, but are meant to purge and humble us before the Lord. Each trial, each test is molding us and making us what God wants us to be, and that is a useable vessel for his service. The more broken you are in physical ability, the more God can use you with spiritual ability. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14 But *we* have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which have been freely given to us of God:
which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means. Communicating spiritual things by spiritual means, after God cleans you up he will equip you with a spiritual gift or gifts. These gifts will help you minister to people, but they will also bring glory to the name of God.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned; but the spiritual discerns all things, and *he* is discerned of no one. 1 Corinthians 2:12-15. It does not matter what your life was like before you came to the Lord, because he will take you through the cleaning process. And if its your desire to be used by the Lord, the Lord will use you in one way or another, but you can be sure, whatever way he uses you, it will bring him the glory.