Let God Use You--Commentary

In 1998 the region of the country in which I live experienced an incredible ice storm because of prolonged freezing rain. Freezing rain means power outages. Ever since I was a little girl, when it would start, we would take out the camping lantern and candles, filling the water jugs to wait for the inevitable darkness. Whenever the power had gone out before, it was only gone for half a day at the most. On this occasion, my husband, my children and I huddled in our living room under sleeping bags around the fireplace waiting for the lights to come back on, unable to even flush a toilet. At first it seemed kind of fun and adventurous, but after 24 hours of "roughing it" in the cold, my adventurous spirit quickly turned to grumbling. My idea of "roughing it" is palm trees, room service and Pay-Per-View. Knowing my friends in the city still had power, and coveting a hot shower, I stuck my pouting lips in my husband’s face and said, "we are outta here!" We piled our dogs, kids and cat in the minivan and moved in on our gracious friends. It would be 11 days before our home had electricity again.

Many of the people I know bought generators, converted their appliances to gas, and had wood stoves installed in the wake of Ice Storm ‘98. They didn’t want to be caught unprepared again. The year 2000 computer problem has the potential to cause similar disruptions to our lives, yet many Christians are shrugging it off, or believe that preparing demonstrates a lack of faith in God to take care of them.

In Genesis chapter 41, Joseph was warned by God that his adopted country of Egypt was going to fall on hard times. He took heed and carefully planned and prepared for the famine that was to come. Because of his foresight and faithful management of resources, God was able to use him to save His people from certain destruction and change the course of history. Granted, the predicted problems with Y2K have not been guaranteed to us by a prophet from the mouth of God. Nonetheless, a house fire, disability, untimely death, and flood are not guaranteed to us either, yet we purchase insurance in the event that any of these things occur.

The Church has an important opportunity in the coming year. My local church is collecting food to give out in the event that the Y2K problem makes acquiring food difficult. The great thing about this kind of investment is that no matter what happens or doesn’t happen, the food can still be given to those in need.

Meeting the physical needs of those in the community opens the door of opportunity to meet spiritual needs. I once read of a Christian pastor in West Berlin who felt strongly led to build a church building in an incredibly questionable location. The structure was to be placed in a rough neighborhood with the Berlin Wall as its backdrop. It was the late 1980’s and Germany was a very different place then. The entire Eastern Block was steeped in Communism. The pastor could not possibly have known why he was being asked to do this seemingly foolish thing. In 1989, when the Iron Curtain started to unravel, and oppressed East Berliners were permitted to cross to West Berlin, it was this obedient pastor and his congregation who were perfectly positioned to greet them with a smile and a hot cup of coffee. Those victims of an oppressive regime needed the hospitality and provisions that the humble man’s church was prepared to offer. But more than that, they needed the Savior who had been hidden from them all of their lives and that little church was ready and waiting to introduce Him.

God used Pharaoh to appoint Joseph to prepare for famine because of Joseph’s obedience.

The writer of Proverbs tells us that our plans should be established amidst wise counsel, that we should seek and heed advice. (Proverbs 20:18,15:22)

Like the obedient pastor, God can use those who are spiritually and physically prepared in ways we cannot even imagine. V ks