Have you ever felt that you were too weak, too inexperienced or too imperfect to be used by God to fulfil His purposes? If you have, then it's time that you know that it is not our faithfulness, but God's faithfulness and the presence of Jesus in our lives that empower us to live out the greatness God has meant for us.
The Bible is full of stories of people who were used by God despite their unfaithfulness and failures. Here are four of the numerous stories of men who were used by God and what we can learn from their lives.
Abraham. The one who would be later known as the father of the nation of Israel, Abraham's life was far from perfect. We often highlight Abraham's faith that God would give him a child, but Abraham was not perfect in keeping the faith.
At one point, he and his wife, Sarah, would doubt God and try to fulfil the promise themselves by having a child through the woman Hagar (Genesis 16:3-6.) Despite this, God stayed faithful and gave Abraham and Sarah Isaac, who would then later on after many generations result into the nation of Israel.
Samson. Of all the men that God would use in the Old Testament, there was probably no one more hard-headed and arrogant than Samson. But even with that, God would give him supernatural strength through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The judge would later on fall because of his sinfulness and lust towards Delilah (Judges 16:20-22), but ultimately God would bring His purposes to pass through Samson.
Moses. Moses was a prince of Egypt, but he was also a coward and a murderer at times. After having killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:12), he fled to Midian only to be called there by God in the form of a burning bush.
Moses also had speech problems or at least the lack of confidence to speak publicly, but God gave him Aaron so that He would fulfil God's purposes by freeing the people of Israel from the corrupt rule of Egypt and by leading them to the promised land.
Peter. Once called Simon, Peter was one of Jesus' disciples who would later on become one of the apostles of the early church. Peter wasn't always bold, but he was always impulsive and often acted before thinking.
At one point as Jesus was being tried, the disciple denied his Master three times. But he would later be restored by Jesus back into ministry and would be filled with the Holy Spirit, becoming an anointed apostle of the church who did mighty miracles and preached powerfully in public.
