And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
And after that he gave them unto judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." ~ Acts 13:17-22
God has always had a hand in our life, whether we always see it or not is a different story. How we live our lives though is up to us, and sometimes unfortunately. God gave human beings a free will, which often gets us into more trouble than we typically desire. However, we are given the opportunity to follow Christ and have sweet fellowship in Him. We may not always remember it, but God is there for us. All our friends and family may leave us, but He is always there, waiting to guide us and strengthen us. He will never force us to see His way, but He may let trials into our lives that will help us remember to look to Him for strength and guidance.
God desires that we take that step and follow Him. Throughout this history of Israel that Paul teaches, only on person did God consider after His own heart. David is constantly seen seeking God's will and talking to God in the Bible. He actively sought God's face and even had the desire to build a house that people could come worship God in! Even though David sinned, he always repented quickly and accepted his punishment for the deed he had done. He acknowledged that through God was the only way he could be redeemed and have a life full and bountiful with His blessings. How often do we long for the blessings without the relationship?
Honestly, God looks for those who want to be near Him and following Him to be used in His ministry. Sounds harsh and a bit unloving, but how is He supposed to use someone who doesn't want to be used? It's like trying to us a spoon to fill a moat with water, it doesn't work the way we need it to. David went out, looking to be used by God and kept himself prepared to be used by God by staying in His word (what he had back then) and staying in contact with God through prayer and praise. Are we in a state to be used by God? or are we sitting on the sidelines waiting for God to call us onto the field?
We are not called to sit and wait, but to go out and work while God prepares us to be in the mission field. David was always being proactive, even after he had repented of his sin with Bathsheba and the verdict was made, David prayed and fasted that the child may live. And though the child did not, David accepted what had happened at face value and moved on, ready to be used by God again however He saw fit. How often do we center on ourselves when something goes wrong versus centering on God and trying to see what He has planned for us? Life can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to run our lives.
God cannot use us if we allow ourselves to become slack in our relationship with Him and our desire to be used by Him. I almost think of it as trying to use a clay pot that hasn't been through the kiln yet to dip water, it just doesn't work. We have to be strengthened, formed, and shaped into the person God knows we can be, and should be, before we can be used by Him.
Where is your heart? Is it with God, waiting to be used? Or is it still dabbling with the world?
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