And God granted him his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10e
The vast majority of us, I am sure, want God to use us to have a significant impact for Him in this world and eternity. While many of us would say we want to be used by God in this capacity, I'm not sure that we believe, at times, that He will actually use us. Oh, we want to be used, but somewhere in our desire for significance, doubt begins to creep its way into our thinking and we wonder if God will ever use our lives for big things. My friend, though these thoughts and doubts come upon us, these doubts go against everything that Scripture teaches. You see, Scripture teaches that God is all-powerful and more than capable of doing big things in any person's life. The question is, will we trust Him?
We are finishing our study of the life of Jabez this week, a man who was honorable for his prayer life. He prayed for significance. He wanted his life to have an impact. As I think about his prayer, I admire the passion and the fervor of his words, which lead me to conclude that he trusted that God was going to answer his prayer.
I do not know about you, but when I pray, I sometimes shy away from asking God to do big things with my life. Of course, I want to lead a significant lifestyle, but I sometimes doubt God wants to use me and do big things through me. Maybe you can relate. What we can learn from Scripture, especially Jabez's story, is that God hears and responds to our prayers.
Encouraging His disciples that He is capable of using anyone to have a maximum impact on the world, Jesus taught them about faith. "Show us how to increase our faith," they asked (Luke 5:5). Jesus replied, "If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you!" God wants to use us to make a difference. He will use even the smallest amount of faith that we have to have a large influence in His kingdom. When we ask Him to use us, we can trust that He will hear and answer that prayer.
Spend time today, asking God to use you for big things. Ask Him to lead you to have a significant impact for Him in this world. Tell Him that you want to point others to Him by the way you live your life. Then, believe that He is capable of doing just that, of doing big things in your life.
Read Luke 17:1-10 (NLT)
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!
“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
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