USED by God - Angey Nelson
When Mary said to the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word,” do you think she really knew what she was getting herself into? I’m sure she grew up learning that a virgin would bring forth the Messiah, but do you really think she realized what was ahead for her? Afterall, she was facing ridicule, false accusation, and the possibility of being stoned to death. Not to mention the ultimate sacrifice…. the Son she would carry in her body would be crucified for sins He never committed. If you ask me, Mary was just being USED.
In human terms, being USED is not something to be desired. Use: to take or consume from a limited supply; to exploit in order to gain advantage.
May 2015 to July 2016 was a time of great loss for our family. In that short period, I miscarried two children, my Dad died of a brain tumor, and our Pastor died of a heart attack. Through it all, we felt the presence of the Lord more than ever before. Just a couple months later, my husband felt burdened of the Lord to take a big step in our life of ministry. After much prayer, fasting, and counsel, we proceeded ahead by faith on the path that God had shown him. Without going into detail, I will say that the loneliness and pain of the next year was even harder than what we had just come through. In truth, I felt USED… by friends, by coworkers, by strangers, and even…. by God.
There, I said it! As much as I tried to ignore it, I knew that bitterness (believing that God got it wrong) was trying to take root. Why would God so clearly lead my husband to do something that He knew would not take place? Why would He purposely put us into a situation that seemed to only have a hurtful outcome? If you ask me, we were just USED.
Deep down, I knew that if my thoughts were true, then Romans 8:28 was a lie. If I was right about God USING me, then every verse that says He loves me, holds me, strengthens me, was wrong. So, I asked the Lord for help; He took me to Mary.
Yes, Mary was USED by God but in such a way that the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest.” God’s kind of USED isn’t the same as mine. Mary wasn’t a doormat that God walked over or a rag that He USED and then threw away. Rather, God needed Mary to be USED as His vessel for His purpose. Did she decline because it was too much to bear? Did she say, “I didn’t sign up for this”? No, Mary became like a vase that is USED to hold beautiful flowers; it isn’t the vase that is important, but that the flowers are lifted up and magnified.
Recently I heard a preacher say something like this, “When you hear an offertory played at church, do you think, ‘Wow! That sure is a great piano.’ No! It’s the pianist that is awesome!” A piano isn’t anything but wood and strings until it gets USED. I decided that if I get USED and someone sees how awesome God is, then amen! Isn’t that what life is supposed to be about?! If God chooses to USE me, then it is my job to see that He gets all the glory.
You know, since that difficult time, God has grown our church in such an amazing way! We have seen Him do marvelous things we never thought possible in the lives of our family and teen group. Glory to God in the highest! Let God USE your life for His glory.