God is not arbitrary about who he chooses to use.
God is looking for people to use. And if you’ll get usable, God will wear you out. You haven’t really lived until you experience being used by God to bless somebody else.
Some of you are saying, “God could never use me.” You’re wrong. Dead wrong! Not only can God use you, but he wants to use you.
Just look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. There are a lot of misconceptions about Mary. The Bible doesn’t say we’re to worship her. It doesn’t say she was perfect or sinless.
In fact, what is special about Mary was her plain ordinariness. God took an ordinary woman and used her in an extraordinary way. That’s what makes her special.
Mary had all kinds of fears, but she never let her fears control her. Instead, she modeled attributes you must have in your life in order for God to use you. If you’ll incorporate them into your life, you’ll find God using you in ways you can’t even imagine.
God uses people who want to do his will.
If you want to be used by God, you’ve got to want to do his will more than anything else. God has a custom plan for you, but it’s not automatic. You must choose to cooperate with God’s purpose for your life or you’ll miss it.
There are two attitudes that Mary showed that made it clear she wanted to be used by God. They’d also be good attributes for us to emulate.
• Enthusiasm. Shortly after an angel tells Mary that she will give birth to the Messiah, she sings, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Savior!” (Luke 1:46-47a NLT) Does that sound like someone who is just grinning and bearing it? Of course not! Nothing great is ever done without enthusiasm. God wants you to be an enthusiastic participant in his plan. You’ve got to get your get up to go. After all, you can’t follow a parked car!
• Humility. Then she says, “Thank you for thinking of your humble servant girl.” (Luke 1: 48) None of us deserves to be used by God. We’re all trophies of God’s grace. Mary understood this. God works in our lives and blesses us because he wants to, not because we deserve it. We show God we want to do his will when we are humble.
What do you want most in life? To get married? To be financially independent? To retire? You’ll need greater desires than those or you’ll miss the boat.
In fact there’s really only one place to start when discovering God’s purpose for your life. “The thing you should want most is God’s Kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you.” (Matt. 6:33 NCV) It starts with a desire.