God’s power is available to every one of His children.
John 1:12 (KJV)
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
This verse tells us that all believers in Jesus Christ become children of God, placing us in a position of authority. But it’s not our authority to use any way that we wish; it’s His authority in us. In other words this power is not to be used as we choose but as He chooses. How many want to be used of God? Here’s the bottom line…
God not only wants to use you He strongly desires to use you. But I have a feeling, and it’s probably because of the pulpit, that many people are looking for the dramatic to happen before they feel they can be used of God. They’re looking for a Goliath to pop up or they’re looking for a Red Sea standing in their way or they’re looking for a fiery furnace to walk through. But I want us to look at this from a different perspective this morning, because I believe God simply wants to use us in our daily routines. How many have ever heard of Billy Graham… Billy Sunday… Mordecai Hamm… anybody who knows the story of Billy Graham’s conversion knows that some business men in NC wanted to get Billy Sunday to come and hold a crusade in their town but he couldn’t make it so they asked a lesser known preacher by the name of Mordecai Hamm to preach it. During one of the services a group of young men walked in but there was no place to sit. They were ready to leave when an usher walked up to them and seized the moment. There was just enough seats in the choir… would you like to come and sit in the choir, he asked them. He didn’t know it, but this was a God moment. He had no idea that God had orchestrated this whole event, for this was the night that Billy Graham would walk out of a choir and come to an altar and gives his heart to the Lord. This was a moment that would be used to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals around this world. And even though the names normally mentioned in this story are Billy Sunday and Billy Graham and Mordecai Hamm, there’s also the unknown usher. Just imagine if he hadn’t been available. Imagine if he hadn’t been aware of his surroundings. He would have missed out on being used by God, Billy Graham would have walked out a sinner and millions of people around this world including kings and presidents would have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, let me say something, there was no chorus of angels proclaiming a God moment. Gabriel didn’t show up to encourage him to seat these young men in the choir. He didn’t have a prophet of God that had prophesied over him weeks before saying … on such and such a day you will be working as an usher in a tent revival and a group of young men will show up but there will be no place to seat them.
But behold look unto the choir for a section will be available for them to sit and one of those young men will believe and God will use him to preach the Gospel around the world. No, this usher had no idea how holy a moment it was. And that’s my point with this message; every day that we live is a holy moment. At any second of your life God can use you to do the miraculous without you even knowing it. God wants to use you, are you ready to be used.
I was praying the other day and quoted this scripture…
Psalms 118:24 (NIV)
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
As soon as I said it the Lord spoke to me and said yes it is. But I’ve not only made this day I’ve also ordered the steps of My people in this day, pray that you’ll see them and walk in them.
Can I tell you something this morning… the only reason you’re alive today is because God has ordered your steps to be alive. There’s a reason that there’s breath in your lunges. There’s a reason there’s a beat in your heart. There’s a reason you have a healthy brain. God has a purpose for you. Yes, this is a day the Lord has made. And yes we will rejoice and be glad in it. But inside of this God made day there are footsteps that have been ordered by God for you to walk in. And here’s the great thing about it…
He’s not asking you to do anything outside of what you normally do. This usher was just doing what he was asked to do… usher people. That’s the amazing thing about our ordered footsteps; God takes our everyday normal routine and uses it to perform His will.
Can I give you some examples? David didn’t wake up one morning and say I’m going to go kill Goliath. He got up that morning with the intentions of doing his daily routine. Jesse, his father had asked him to take his brothers, who were out with the army some bread and cheese. He didn’t know that this would be a day that people would still be talking about in the year 2009. He didn’t know that his story would be taught in classrooms around the world and preached in pulpits from Israel to America. This was a normal day just like any other day. He was engrossed with his daily routine. And it was in his daily routine that he found an opportunity to serve the Lord. God took his normal, daily activities and brought deliverance to Israel. This wasn’t David’s responsibility but you see, sometimes it’s not about our Red Seas it’s about somebody else’s Red Sea. More often than not it’s not going to be about our Goliath, it’s going to be about somebody else’s Goliath. God ordered David’s footsteps in such a way that David found himself face to face with King Saul’s giant. He didn’t set out to get involved; God just walked him right into it. I wonder how many here today God has walked you right into somebody else’s impossible situation. You didn’t see it coming.
You didn’t wake up with intentions of taking on somebody’s Goliath. You woke up on time, got to work on time, you was in the middle of your daily routine when all of the sudden you were faced with somebody else’s impossibility. I want you to stop for a moment and ask yourself this question… should I turn around and walk the other way or have I walked right into God’s will? Is this a hindrance or is it an opportunity? David didn’t see it as a hindrance, he seen an opportunity for God to be glorified. He saw an opening in his otherwise routine day for someone to see the power of God first hand. David recognized God’s steps. He understood that God ordered the footsteps of His people. David knew that he didn’t set this scenario up; He was just delivering bread and cheese to his brothers. This wasn’t on his checklist for the day. It must be a God thing. God has set me up so that He can be lifted up. And if God set this scene up who am I to turn a deaf ear to it. God wants to use you. You’ve already killed bears and lions in your own personal life but God wants to use you to kill a giant in front of everybody so that they can see that nothing is impossible with God. You know how to handle the devil and you know what it takes to win the victory. So therefore God wants to use you to build someone else’s faith. He wants to use you to open up to them a whole new way of living this life. I’m talking about God using us mightily in our daily routines.
Listen… you don’t have to be in agony about God’s will for your life, it’s amazing what He can do with our normal everyday schedules.
Sometimes like Moses God will show us our calling in our daily routine. Do you realize Moses was doing what he had done for the past forty years when God ordered his footsteps to a burning bush? He didn’t wake up that morning expecting to be face to face with a talking plant that was on fire. God called him in his daily routine.
Other times God can un-expectantly bless us through our daily routines. What about the widow woman of Zarephath? Here’s a lady whose husband had died and left her and her child to fend for themselves in the middle of a famine. And there’s this prophet named Elijah. Here’s the story…
1 Kings 17:9-16 (NKJV)
9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. (Sounds like a daily routine) And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
12 So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
Do you think God won’t put heavy demands on us… we’re talking about a major inconvenience. Here she is trying to fix her and her starving son a meal and out of nowhere this stranger shows up demanding her last bit of food. But the key words are found in verse 9… See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. God was setting the scene up. He was going to cause her daily path to cross Elijah’s daily path. Can you imagine being the prophet of God and having to ask for food knowing that this lady only had enough for her and her starving son? Elijah knew something that no one else could’ve known… he knew God had ordered his footsteps and he knew God had ordered her footsteps. He knew it was a set-up from the beginning. God was going to use him to show this lady that He hadn’t forgotten about her. And without hesitation Elijah said…
13 "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ’The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ "
15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
There are many stories in the Bible of people just going about their daily routine and God using them right where they were…
