Surprised at how God sees me and chooses to use me

Recently I was looking through my high school yearbook from my senior year. Many friends had written those inscriptions which friends write in yearbooks. But, I was surprised to see a message from my Physics teacher, Mr. Cooper. I had been a pretty good student. I remember helping friends with their work. But, admittedly, I also often had a cocky attitude which could rub teachers the wrong way. With today’s humility of old age about the foolishness of my youth, I was surprised to read that Mr. Cooper wrote, “Jonathan, think well of yourself. So many others do.” Wow! That caused me to pause. I could have understood if my teacher thought I was a young kid with a big head. Instead, he wrote a message of encouragement and commendation! That was a surprise.

How does our Heavenly Father see us? How does God see you? It is easy to go to our failures and our sins and understand if God sees us primarily as a disappointment. After all, He created us in love to live in a relationship of worship and service with Him. But, in pride and rebellion we have gone our own ways, causing ourselves trouble and dishonoring the name of our Lord.

Would you be surprised to know that God looks on your differently. Consider these words from 1 Peter 2:9-10. “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” God inspired Peter to write this message to Christians in “the dispersion.” These Christians had not necessarily been of the chosen Jewish race. They could have thought of themselves as unimportant in the eyes of the God of Israel. But, through Jesus, God saw the people of this church differently.

We can understand that God might see us as those who were “not a people,” as those who “had not received mercy.” After all, our sin and rebellion deserve reproach. But, God instead sees us and considers us as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that [we] may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.” I should know better, but it is still surprising to me that our Lord and Creator considers us in such a loving light! Therefore, I was also recently surprised to see how God puts this truth into practice.

Many of you know that I have a prayer list for daily and weekly prayers. In the mornings, I will read my devotional readings from the Bible and then pray for those people or situations which are on my heart, asking God’s wise and loving intervention. Recently as I was going over the highlighted areas of this list I also received a surprise, perhaps like the surprise I received from my high school yearbook. It seems that in areas of concern, God is addressing them through my attention. For example, I had been praying for the Alaska Mission for Christ as new leadership has brought changes. Somehow, I have ended up leading the teaching of training for Licensed Deacons for AMC. We are about to finish our class on the Sacraments. I’m not sure that I thought when I prayed to the Lord about this concern, He would answer this prayer through my actions.

I have praying been for Funny River Community Lutheran Church since their pastor took a call and left at the end of September. As I was looking at my list I realized that I had led worship and preached at Funny River on the second Sunday in January and February. Again, I’m not sure that I thought when I prayed to the Lord about this concern, He would answer this prayer through my actions.

I have prayed for St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer for years, with different concerns on my prayer list as time passes. On my current list are God’s help for our congregation to deal with all the issues surrounding COVID, and also for help with improving and using technology, an area where I do not have expertise. But, as I was looking at my list I realized that I had contacted, by phone or e-mail or text message, between 60 and 70 households, just to check in during these COVID times. That was one of the tasks I was asked to do when the Elders asked me to return to serving part time: to help with those who might “fall through the cracks” as this pandemic makes it more difficult to worship together, and more difficult to do ministry together. And then, last Wednesday, February 17, in response to discussion in a staff meeting, I invited some of our technology experts to gather together. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss ways to continue improving our web page, our social media presence, and our ability to live stream worship. While I have been praying about this issue, I certainly did not expect God to use a non-expert like me in addressing this need!

These are just some of the areas where I found God using me to accomplish His work in areas of concern about which I had been praying. I admit, when I realized this, I was surprised, perhaps even more surprised than when I found that inscription from my high school physics teacher.

But should we be surprised when God uses us to do His work? After all, God created us, and gifted us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. God considers us so valuable that He paid the price of sending His only Son to suffer and die for us to save us. And, as 1 Peter 2 says, God has a purpose for those of us who know our failings, but have been saved by Jesus. “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” In Jesus, God makes those who “were not a people” into “people of God”, surprisingly so that we “may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Imagine God can use a sinner like me and like you!

So, what have you been praying about? How might God be using you to do His work, even if you are surprised that God chose you?