Can My Past Hinder God From Using Me? -

You may be thinking, “Can my past hinder God from using me?” I want you to think of the people in the bible and some of the heroic acts they accomplished. All of those people had a past and you know what we have in common with them? God still chose to use them. Don’t let your past prevent you from coming to the Lord. I know sometimes the things behind us can keep us in a place of shame, thankfully we have Jesus, who offers us freedom.

You could be an answered prayer

The Israelites were enslaved under Pharaoh for over 400 years. When they cried out to God, He heard them and little did Moses know, he would become the answer to their prayer. If you are familiar with the past of Moses, you may be thinking, “How could God use him?” Friends, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. can my past hinder god from using me

Moses Made a mistake

Moses was born a Hebrew in a time where Pharaoh gave orders for every Hebrew boy to be thrown into the Nile. He survived and landed in the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter. So Moses was a Hebrew, but he grew up under Egyptian custom. When he got older, he witnessed a fight break out between a Hebrew and an Egyptian. He killed that Egyptian and was faced with shame, leading him to run away. I doubt Moses had intentions of coming back, let alone leading the Israelites out of captivity. That was until God instructed him to.

Moses Knows Shame

“One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting a fellow Hebrew?”

The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses Fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.”
Exodus 2:11-15

But Who am i?

When God appeared to Moses, informing him of his plan (the plan involved Moses), to get the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s captivity, Moses wanted no part in it. He actually told God,

Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Exodus 4:13

Moses was self-aware, he let God know all the reasons why He should not use him. He mentioned that he wasn’t an eloquent speaker and people wouldn’t listen to him. He even went as far as saying,

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Exodus 3:11

You can tell Moses factored in his past when God came to him with a plan that would save an entire nation. The thing Moses misunderstood, so did God. God knew Moses had a past, wasn’t an eloquent speaker, and struggled with confidence, BUT He still chose to use him. In the same way, God has already considered your past and is still choosing you.

Display the transformation

Friends, we have freedom in Jesus. We don’t have to let the past consume us. We can go to the Lord and ask for forgiveness and know we are forgiven. Does that mean we should keep living recklessly (read more on that HERE), and continue the things from our past? Of course not. We were made new when we accepted Jesus and gained the Holy Spirit. As we are made new, we die to our old selves.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:1-10

Encouragement

Friends, there are more people we could have taken a look at from the bible to show that the past will not hinder God from using you. There was Paul who wrote most of the New Testament, who’s past consisted of persecuting Christians. It’s not who you were, it’s who you will allow God to transform you into. The transformation displays hope for others, while pointing the glory to God.

Remember Moses, how he tried to disqualify himself by pointing out all the bad? And God still said, “You’re going to lead my people out of slavery.” Friends, God will qualify the called and he’s not looking for people who are already perfect. He is looking for people who will let him display his work through them. He’s looking for you. Turn to him. Your past in not enough to discredit what God can do.

with love,
Emilee