October 20

Am I usable?

“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).
“Be ready to every good work” (Titus 3:1).

I was talking with a Christian merchant a while ago, who expressed a great and important truth. He said: “People are crying to God to use them, but He cannot. They are not given up to Him; they are not humble, and teachable, and holy. There are plenty of people who come to me and want to work in my store, but I cannot use them; they are not fit for my work. When I must have some one, I have to go and advertise, and sometimes spend days in trying to find a man who will fit into the place I want him for; and then I have to try him and prove him to know whether he will suit me or not.”
The fact is, God is using everybody that He can, and using them to the full extent of their fitness for His service. So instead of praying so much to be used, people should search themselves to know whether they are usable.

God cannot use anybody and everybody who comes along any more than the merchant could. It is only those who are “sanctified and meet for the master’s use,” and “prepared unto every good work,” that He can bless with great usefulness.
God wants men and women, and He is hunting for them everywhere, but, like the merchant, He has to pass by hundreds before He finds the right individuals. The Bible says: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
—Samuel Logan Brengle.

My little girl is only three—a tiny little miss,
But a lesson she has taught me, now list to what it is.
“Help me to write my name,” she said, and placed her hand in mine;
And so we wrote across the page a neat and careful line.
And then she gripped the pencil tight and wouldn’t let me lead.
The page became all scribbled up with marks we couldn’t read.

It is the same in life, I thought, we want to have our way;
We cannot be content to stay alone with Him each day.
Relax your hand in God’s, Oh friend, don’t hold on quite so tight;
Just let Him lead across the page, your life will then be right.
—Doris Gainder.

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