I’m just a girl, with a guitar….writing songs for people with broken hearts, mostly. And people who love Jesus but don’t have it all together most days. I suppose I can relate to messed up, broken folks with toilet paper hanging off the back of their shoe as they exit the bathroom. I get it. I know life is messy, sometimes dirty diaper messy even. It is what it is, but that doesn’t mean life isn’t somehow beautiful in the midst of it all.
I’ve been really listening to people around me lately. Taking in their words, feeling the pain, joy or frustration as they tell their stories. Sometimes its a beautiful story of extreme redemption. I just heard a man tell his story of how he was known as the collector for some drug dealers in the area. When people didn’t pay up he was sent to collect. The day I heard him telling his story was the week after he got saved. His entire world was turned upside down overnight. He was wrecked for Jesus…..forever. I saw him a few weeks later and he had an entire row of people with him, people he wanted to rescue from the same fire he found himself in just weeks ago.
Does he have it all together yet? No. Will he ever? Probably not, but Jesus is still madly in love with him and will pursue him for the rest of his life. God will continue to extend grace and mercy to him every single day….whether he deserves it or not.
Messy, broken people. Jesus loves them-well, us because we are all in that category. No, Jesus doesn’t just love them, he goes after them. He goes after them through people like me and you. When we offer up our little meager gifts and God infuses it with his spirit, lives get wrecked and people get saved. Isn’t that what it’s all about??
I’m going to be completely honest here. I’m really not that good of a singer, speaker or writer. I get off pitch sometimes. My voice cracks when I sing. No matter how many voice lessons I take, I still struggle with certain areas in my voice. I also have gaping holes in my speaking abilities. I’m not awful, but I tend to talk really fast and laugh nervously and forget half of the things I wanted to say, or I repeat the same phrase 40 times because I can’t think of anything else. And my writing???? Well, let’s just say that when I sent my writing mentor my first draft of some chapters I wrote, she tried to let me down ever so gently whilst trying to bring me back to reality so I could re-write it about 4 times.
But, I keep putting myself out there and God keeps blessing my efforts. People are encouraged and inspired somehow. I’m in no illusion here; it’s God speaking to them through my imperfect attempts. His power is being perfected through my weakness. Isn’t that what all of us suffer from honestly-human weakness??? We despise it, beg God to take it from us. We think if we could just overcome our weaknesses somehow-develop them into strengths, then we would be much more useful to the kingdom.
But nothing could be farther from the truth. God isn’t repulsed by weak people; He’s drawn to them, like a magnet. Our weaknesses give a place for His power to reside. So instead of hating ourselves and concealing our weaknesses we should just celebrate them. That’s right- I’m high-fiving you right now for that thing you keep beating yourself up over every single day. Yes, I know you think it makes you ineffective but maybe God wants to show you just how powerful He can be if you will allow Him.
So much of the time, we use our weaknesses as a justification for not reaching out to others that need Him. We feel unqualified. I get it. Satan tries to throw that in my face all the time, reminding me that I only have an associates degree and not a full bachelors or some type of seminary background. It makes me feel weak and unqualified to serve God’s people. But what do I do???? I do it anyway- I sing, write and speak my heart out every chance I get. And God blesses it….EVERY. SINGLE.TIME. Because it isn’t ust about me friends. It’s about Him and His good news.
I’m going to say the same thing to you. It isn’t just about you……it’s about your friends, families, co-workers, and communities. They need Jesus too.
So embrace your weakness and go fulfill your destiny! He will be with you every step of the way. Who cares if you do it perfectly??!! Just do it and watch God bless it.
