Availability Ability

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8)

This past Sunday, we sang a gospel song called “Use Me” for the first time at NewLife. The chorus is very simple:

If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.
If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.
Take my hands, Lord, and my feet,
Touch my heart, Lord, speak through me.
If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.

“Use Me” is a song that has stuck in my head for over 20 years, usually coming to mind during those moments when I find a desire welling up inside of me to be the man that God has created me to be, to be willing to do whatever He asks of me. It is also a song that brings me back to a special time in my life. After the summer of my sophomore year at UConn in 1996, I was a very new and inexperienced Christian, hired by South United Methodist Church in Manchester to lead their youth groups for the summer. They gave me an office that was definitely a fire hazard, up on the second floor with only one narrow staircase leading down to safety. Up in that sacred space, I would plan lessons and outings, pray in faith, truly believing that each child was going to come to know Jesus as their Savior, and sing along to the few worship tapes they had up in that office. Among the songs I would play and then rewind and play again (remember those days?) was “Use Me.”

If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.
If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.
Take my hands, Lord, and my feet,
Touch my heart, Lord, speak through me.
If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me.

Twenty-three years later, I am grateful that God has honored the prayer found in that song, to continue to use me and work through me, despite my weakness. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

As the saying goes, God is not looking for ability as much as availability. Will you be courageous today and pray that God would use you as He sees fit?