We have all asked that question. Maybe you don’t have a lot of education. Perhaps you live in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps you have a big-time failure in your history. Or maybe no one ever believed in you.
No Average Joe Series
Joseph must have asked that question dozens of times as he was sold as slave, falsely accused of a crime, and eventually forgotten in a dungeon prison. For many years, Joseph had every reason to wonder, “Can God use me?”
But then we read,
So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do”—Genesis 41:55.
After all the dreams, disappointments, and detours, Joseph’s moment had come. When the people cried out, Pharaoh trusted him to meet the need.
If you wonder if God can ever use you:
Watch the time.
When the seven years of plenty…came to an end (Genesis 41:53). This is 20 years after his brothers sold Joseph to slave traders! But at this moment, Egypt was hungry and Joseph had food. We may think God is delayed, but His timing gives us opportunities we can never manufacture.
Think ahead.
Egypt experienced the famine Joseph had predicted. When everyone else was living large during seven years of plenty, Joseph worked a plan to store up grain for the future. It was no one else job to think like that. It was his, and for seven years he prepared himself. God just seems to use people who are prepared more than He uses anyone else.
Die first.
Joseph became the provider for a nation. He was literally the go-to guy. But for 13 years before that he was dead. He was dead to his father, to his brothers, to Potipher, and to the butler and baker. Jesus said, “…unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit”—John 12:24. Being used by God will cost you, so just die now…die to your selfish ambition, die to your personal opinions, die to your need to be right. Fruitfulness is always fatal.
Expect more.
Joseph stored grain for Egypt, but ultimately people from all over the world came for help. His influence and impact was greater than he ever imagined. Can God use you? That’s a very small question for the God of the universe. Our personal experiences, failures, and situation never limit God. We can always expect Him to do more.
Joseph points us to Jesus who was rejected, died, was buried and yet rose from the grave to rescue us from certain death. Jesus is our Provison. And when we are “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), and when we abide in Him (John 15), He bears fruit in us and uses us beyond our biggest dreams.
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