Vessels God chooses and uses are always according to His sovereign Will and Plan. Jesus called twelve men to be with Him so He can make them and send them out. He said “Follow me and I will make you…”. Those called were not consulted before hand, nor did He seek anyone’s advice regarding the qualifications of those He was to call. God is still calling many of us to become vessels for His use. He knows all there is to know about you and loves you regardless of yourself. Unfortunately, many of us have become prisoners of our past. You may feel rotten, you may feel broken into a thousand pieces and you may even be at the point where you want to give up and throw in the towel. Friend I want you to know that we are not our experiences; God is not calling you by your past, but into your future and His expectations of your future are higher than your past failures. God’s perception of us will always overshadow our brokenness and our past failures.
Jeremiah was undecided and unwilling to accept the call of God upon his life. He hesitated as he looked at the wickedness around him and within himself as well as the work before him. He was certain that God had made a mistake. Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to working for the Lord, there’s a sense in which none of us is qualified. “And who is sufficient for these things” (2 Cor 2:16) asked the great apostle Paul, as he pondered the responsibilities of ministry. It is good to know your weaknesses but it is an affront to the sovereignty of God to think that your inabilities incapacitate God. Paul says “But by the grace of God, I am what I am”. It is grace from start to finish. He further stated that “not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves but our sufficiency is of God” (2cor 3:5).
Our strength comes from the Lord. So we lean on Him and depend on Him for strength to do whatever we have been called to do.
So forget about your past and step into your destiny. He is calling you to finish your assignment. He knew you before He called you. He is not making a mistake by choosing you. You are the man or woman for the job. You may not feel this way and folks who know you also know that you have a terrible past that disqualifies you and obviously, you may not think you have what it takes. But let me ask you a question: who has the right to disqualify the one God has qualified? He qualifies the called.
Paul the apostles writing to the church in Corinth wrote:
“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NKJV)
God did not choose philosophers, or orators, or statesmen, or men of wealth, and power and interest, rather He chose you and I. When He chose the twelve disciples to follow Him, it was not because of who they were in themselves, but because of what they could become through His power. To the ordinary eye it looked like the Supreme Architect of the universe had made a mistake with the choice He made, because if there was anything special about them, it was visible only to His omniscient eyes. Well, is it not true that He alone knows what is in man?
Your tomorrow begins today. He is not ashamed of you. He chooses the useless things of this world to confound the wise. Go for it, you are the vessel He chose. You are broken and busted but you are His choice. He alone knows the reason why He chose you and not your neighbor.
I will leave you all for now, if we don’t meet again, I will see you at the dinner table in Papa’s house.
Rev. Kingsley Ayesu.