So many times when I get asked to speak, the first thing I think is…”who am I?” Who am I, that they would want to hear me? Hear what I have to say, my story? I’m just a lowly, ordinary, everyday stay-at-home mom and wife. I don’t think I have what they want! But it’s not even a moment later, this verse floods through me like a tidal wave…relinquishing every ill-equipped, not-good-enough, under-qualified, thought.
John 11:4 “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it.”
This sickness, or my aneurysm in this case, didn’t end in death - Even though every statistic out there was working against me. 50% of people with ruptured brain aneurysms die before even reaching the hospital. From the 50% that do make it, 75% of them will walk away with physical or mental deficiencies.
I am not alive today because of luck, or because I “beat the odds.” I am alive today because God has a very specific purpose for me in mind…To make His name Great and to give Him the Glory for what He’s done in my life.
So even though I feel ill-equipped at times and feel like I’m going to throw-up before every speaking engagement…I know that God is using me. Using my story, to share His Grace, His healing power, and His miracles; His love.
You know what’s sweet? He wants to use you too. God loves redeeming the hard things we go through in life. Maybe for you that was a failed marriage, a wayward child, a cancer diagnosis, bad decisions made as teenagers, letting anger get the best of you while raising your kids… I don’t know what yours is. But God does. And He wants to use you, He wants to redeem you. He wants to use your story to help bring encouragement or caution or love to someone else. Maybe for you that’s not speaking in front of 50 people, but maybe it’s talking to that woman at church. Or warning that husband who’s spending all hours of the day at the office. Maybe it’s talking to that teen and sharing your story, your heart.
Whenever I feel ill-equipped, God is always super kind in reminding me of the Samaritan Woman, or the woman at the well, as she is frequently referred to. She was divorced multiple times, and she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband at the time. She was on the bottom of the totem pole, one of the least of these. Yet, Jesus met her where she was at. He told her about and offered her Living Water, and you know what the Bible says? It says in John 4 that “she shared what happened and many people believed in HIM because of what the woman shared.” Isn’t that awesome? She was a nobody, yet Jesus used her to bring people - MANY people - to Himself.
THAT is my mission. THAT is my heart. That through my speaking people would see and believe in HIM because of what I share.
She didn’t have a seminary degree, or a blog. She was by no means Beth Moore. And yet, God used her. And He wants to use you and your story and experiences too.
Looking through the bible, we read story after story of Jesus using ordinary, everyday, sinful, ill-equipped people. Take a look at some of these influential people he used for His kingdom…
Abraham – Was too old. Elijah – Was suicidal. Joseph – Was abused. Job – Went bankrupt. Moses – Had a speech problem. Gideon – Was afraid. Samson – Was a womanizer. Rahab – Was a prostitute. Samaritan Woman – Divorced. Noah – Was a Drunk. Jeremiah – Was young. Jacob – Was a cheater. David – Was a murderer. Jonah – Ran from God. Naomi – Was a widow. Peter – Denied Christ. Martha – Worried about everything. Zacchaeus – Was small and money hungry. The Disciples – Fell asleep while praying. Paul – A Pharisee who persecuted Christians before becoming one.
-Taken from Jarrid Wilson
Where are you on this list? Not here? Add your name in with your “deficiency”.
To take it one step further… read this verse again, but instead of reading the word “sickness” insert your trial/hardship/story. John 11:4 “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it.”
This marriage will not end in death? This diagnosis? This pregnancy? This season of trial? What are you going through…God wants to redeem it, He wants to use it for His Glory.
2 Corinthians 12:9-11 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, In hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Let’s be weak together, let’s share together, let’s do life together because through our weakness, God will show His strength. God will redeem the broken pieces of our lives and use it for His glory. God will open up doors for you to share your story, share His glory if you are willing to take that step of faith.
Luke 8:39 – “Return home and tell how much God has done for you. So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.”
Psalm 66:16 “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.”
Daniel 4:2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me.”
Philippians 1:12 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.”
Are you willing to be used by God? To share your story?
<3 Anna Weeber – brain aneurysm survivor, stay-at-home mom, wife, nervous public speaker, humbly being used by God