Actually, the words go like this....
I want you in my service, but I can do without you.
Who said them? God.
Who heard them? Oswald Chambers.
He'd spent the night praying alone on a hilltop overlooking Edinburgh, Scotland. He was desperate. Doors of opportunity were slamming in his face everywhere. He had felt called to use his gifts to build the kingdom of God, and yet nothing was panning out.
Chambers indicated in his account that the voice was clear and audible. Was he hallucinating up there on that cold hill? I think not. These words sound quite authentic to my ears. I never heard a voice, but this is a lesson God has been teaching me too, these past few years. God doesn't need me either.
God doesn't need my money. All I own is his anyway, and he has plenty besides. Oh, yes. God cares deeply how I spend my money. What I buy reveals who I am and where my heart is. But God can do without my money.
God doesn't need my talents. All I have is his anyway, and he has plenty of others more talented than me at his disposal. Oh, yes. God cares deeply about how I use my gifts. For my own glory? Or for his? How I use my abilities reveals who I am and where my heart is. But God can do without my talents.
God doesn't need my life. He gave it to me and can take it back at any time. Oh, yes. God cares deeply about my life. He loves me with a passion no human words can describe. But God can do without me.
Spare me the folly, Lord, of thinking I have something you need.
As for Oswald, I am reading a biography of the man who died in relative anonymity nearly 100 years ago. But 100 years later millions upon millions of Christians know his name well.
Most of us know him as the author of My Utmost for His Highest, a devotional. I've owned a copy of the book for decades. On the inside flap my now deceased mother wrote a love note which began with these words: "Brian, May your utmost ever be for His highest...."
So why do we know this Oswald today, and read his books? Well, that's a long story! But suffice it to note here that a certain gifted artist (whose stunningly beautiful portraits and sketches adorn this biography I am reading) came down from a hilltop that night and found in the mail the next morning an invitation to attend a divinity school. He never knew who sent it to him or why, but there it was in the mail. Sensing that this was the nudging of God, Oswald Chambers left the world of art and entered theological training.
And so it came to pass, after many a twist and turn, that an artist whose talents God could do without went on to be a writer whom God could also do without. But God saw fit to make the words of this quiet man echo from sea to sea a hundred years hence. As for Oswald's ability to draw stunning charcoal sketches of Beethoven and serene seascapes?
God did well enough without it.
God may not need us, but fortunately he does choose to use 2nd rate (even 3rd rate) people to do 1st rate things. God not "needing" us does not get us off the hook of following where he leads us or going where he sends us or doing what he asks of us. But I must follow, go, and do as a faithful servant rather than as one somehow God needs/depends upon to accomplish God's will. If I don't, God will surely use someone or something else to accomplish God's will. The question is, why would I want to miss out on the adventure!? God may not need ME to accomplish his will, but I desperately need to go and do wherever and whatever God calls me to.
ReplyDeleteI thouroughly agree with every word of your post. ...Also a lesson I have been learning. My mother in law has a great saying that we repeat to each other again and again... "if you ever begin to think you are needed, put your finger into a cup of water and pull it out--- then look for the hole." So important to remember.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet... if I may... God doesn't NEED the waves to create the erosion I see on the coast here. His hands (His words, for that matter) are certainly capable of creating and forming the cliffs---. And, still he uses the waves... all day long, day in and day out... he uses waves to create the cliffs. No, God doesn't need me, but yes, he wants to use me... just like the waves.
Agreed on all counts, my friends, with your thoughts. That said, for me the sticking point has not been knowing that God wants to use me or simply that he wants me. For me the sticking point has been getting over the hope that God needs me or that I can curry favor with God by helping him somehow with offerings of time, money or talent to his service. If this posting has a slant -- and it does -- it reflects the fact that my ship has been lopsided for years, and slanting this direction helps level my deck a bit!
ReplyDeleteBlessings! Thanks for your thoughts.
Very good....... I've read several of his devotions from the website. Roxanne
ReplyDeletewww.eternallyhopeful.wordpress.com