Sunday, April 5, 2015

God Only Uses Imperfection

How do you think God sees you? Yes, I know He died for you. He bore your sins on the cross. He paid the price for your sins. Yes, I know He loves you so much that He did all the previous for you. But how do you think He sees you?

To some folks that's a silly question. But to a whole lot of others, it is a difficult question to answer. Why is that? Because many born again people tend to see themselves the way they see themselves, not the way God sees them. Or their view of themselves is the product of what others have said about them. The way we see ourselves should line up with the way God sees us. The way God sees us is documented and confirmed in His Word.

The Word of God is the absolute truth. Jesus said if we genuinely follow Him we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. What an incredible promise that is yours from following after Him. In this post I want to share the truth with you about how God sees you, directly from His Word. My prayer is that you will be set free to be who and what He has already ordained you to be.

One of my favorite Scripture passages is from Romans 4:18-22, and is about Abraham. Paul says Abraham through strong faith, considered God would keep His promise to give Him a son, even though he was 100 years old, and Sarah's womb was dead! Paul states that Abraham and Sarah gave respect to the promise by not wavering at all with unbelief, but instead, grew stronger in their faith. Paul further stated that Abraham had so much faith, he was fully assured God could, and would perform what He had promised him. According to the Apostle Paul, Abraham and Sarah were considered the righteousness of God through their faith. Question: Was Paul telling the complete truth about Abraham and Sarah?

According to the Old Testament, the story seems to be a little different. Abraham did indeed waver in his faith. After God had promised him a son (even at his old age) Sarah talked him into going in to his servant Hagar so that she would bear a son to them. (See Genesis Chapter 16) Waver? I think so. When 2 angels visited them and announced "...at this time next year I will surely return to you; and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son", Sarah laughed in disbelief. (See Genesis Chapter 18) This doesn't sound like unwavering faith to me! How about you?

Let me tell you what it sounds like to me. It sounds like God accomplished what He had promised because Abraham and Sarah made themselves available to Him. When all was said and done, God's Word to them came to pass...just as God said it would. Even though Abraham had faith, He couldn't see himself the way God saw him. But even in spite of this, God made Abraham into the man He created Him to be. Looking back from this side of the cross, Paul saw Abraham and Sarah the way God saw him them...a mighty man and woman of God.
 
The writer of Hebrews listed several people from the Old Testament in what we call the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11). But a closer look at their lives from the Old Testament reveals that some had no courage, some had no faith, some were scoundrels, and some even ran from God. In spite of their imperfections their names are listed in the great Hall of Faith because they were available to God. Looking back from this side of the cross the writer of Hebrews sees that God did indeed use them mightily to accomplish great feats.
 
That's the way God sees you and me. Mighty men and women of valor. But understand, we are that way only through His work on the cross, and only according to our surrender to His incredible destiny for us. You must seek out and study the Word of God to know and understand who you are in Christ, and how He sees you. The key to Abraham's success was obedience. He and Sarah didn't obey God without fault. They panicked and tried to help God bring forth His promise instead of trusting Him for it. But nonetheless, they were obedient. And God saw them complete and perfect in Him. That's the way He sees you.
 
Know that you are an awesome creature in the sight of our God. You may not be perfect in your own sight (if so you need to deal with pride), but you ARE complete in Him...just like Abraham and Sarah. So...I challenge you to begin to expect God to do great things in and through you. He has already ordained you to do so! See yourself as God sees you.

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