A profound statement I have often used is “it’s not your ability God is looking for, it’s your availability”.
Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
In my testimony, I tell people about how I was delivered from a wasted life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. In the beginning of my Christian walk, I often wondered about my life’s purpose and just how I could be used by God. I knew He had saved me and healed me for a reason. I knew in my heart that my testimony was important to encourage others who were still caught in that kind of life.
But the enemy of my soul (satan) would accuse me and tell me that nobody wanted to hear what I had to say. I used every excuse I could think of to shrink away from the call of God on my life, but it was no use. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
God didn’t call Moses because he was a great orator – for Moses stuttered. God didn’t call Esther because she was a heroine – she feared for her life at first. God didn’t call Jonah because he was obedient – he ran the other way! And God didn’t call Lori Graham Bakker because she was a stereotypical preacher!
I learned that my availability is all that He needed. He didn’t ask me to be a great orator. He didn’t ask me to be a heroine. He didn’t ask me to get a degree in theology to add to my credibility with the religious. He was not satisfied with just a little piece of Lori – He asked me for my all.
When I gave Him my all, I didn’t know how He would use it and it wasn’t for me to know. Sometimes God will ask us for our availability and wait to see if we respond. If we give Him our all, He will take it and make something wonderful of it. He made my willingness to tell my story into a great healing ministry. He took my shame of a sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll life and brought glory to His own name through my brokenness.
You see, He saved me with His love. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance, and now I can’t stop telling others of His great love. Love conquers ALL. And now I can only say ‘yes’ when He asks me to be available to tell of His love, His healing, and His restoration.
Remember, God is not looking for your abilities, He is looking for your availability.
Lord, I thank you for your great love towards me. I know in my heart that your love conquered every fear I ever had, healed every wound and empowered me by your Holy Spirit to be bold to tell others of You. I pray now for every person who reads this, that they would be completely overtaken by Your great love; and that they give themselves without reserve to Your purposes for them, that You will be glorified!
