Have you ever realized that the people in the Bible has such a strong faith?
I mean, look at Abraham. God asked him to leave his family and follow. Where? God would tell Abraham when he was there. Just up and leave his home, his family, everything. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son. The son that would be the beginning of the generations to come that were promised to Abraham. Abraham did this with such faith because he believed that God would still be able to resurrect Isaac after the sacrifice. Of course God stopped the sacrifice and provided an alternate sacrifice.
Look at Job. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job had it all. A great house, family, friends, land, livestock. Yep, he had it all. And then, BAM! He lost it all. He still had his friends, but I am not sure I'd want them as friends at this point. He still had his wife. I love my husband because of how supportive he is. Job's wife...supportive? Not so much. But he continued to trust God when his whole world seemed to be crashing down on him.
Look at Joseph. The favorite son of Jacob. He received a coat of many colors and had a few dreams showing his brothers bowing down to him. This of course made his brothers jealous. Just a tad. They only wanted to kill him. But thanks to Reuben, they did not do so. Instead, he was sold into slavery. But because of his faith in God, he was able to rise up and take charge. Until Potiphar's wife decided she wanted more out of Joseph than just a servant. But Joseph trusted God and chose prison over pleasure. Yet during this time, he again was given duties like that of someone in charge. Then he became second in command to Pharaoh due to dream interpretations. All because of his faith.
These three men have something other than their faith in common. They have a lack of mistakes mentioned in the Bible. Abraham's mistakes included lying that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife and taking matters into his own hands to fulfill God's promise. And Joseph's mistake would have been gloating about his dreams and his beautiful coat. Job's mistakes were not mentioned. So all in all, these were really good guys. So of course they had great faith and God was able to use them. What about the sinners? What about those that actually made mistakes? Was their faith as strong and was God actually able to use them?
Of course.
Let's look at my favorite example. David.
Where should we start with him? Let's see. He committed adultery. Sent the woman's husband to the front lines of the battle knowing he would be killed. So that would make him a murderer, correct? I could go on, but there is no need. That is already more than any of the above men.
But God wasn't able to use David. Nobody even knows who David is, right?
Wrong!!!
God definitely used David DESPITE his sins and mistakes. God just had to work around them.
After the death of Uriah, David and Bathsheba married and they had a son. Due to David's mistakes, the punishment was the loss of their first child. But guess what? David still sat on the throne. He was still king.
Why is that important?
Sometimes God has to take our dream away. He doesn't always remove us from the situation.. He just takes away our baby (aka our dream).
God does that sometimes. He takes away something that we love. But when he does this, he does not leave an empty spot. He always replaces it. He restores us.
He did this with David. David was not taken off the throne. He was still king and could still serve God from this seat of power. But when God saw fit, he gave David a baby. Well, a few babies. But most specifically, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, the one who became king after David, the one who built the temple.
And despite his sins, his mistakes, his failures, he is still known as the man after God's own heart. Why not someone who was more perfect, someone who did not make so many mistakes? Someone who lived their life on the straight and narrow?
Because no matter what David did. No matter what sins he committed. No matter what. He always returned to God. He always walked with God. He continually came back to the Creator.
And God is able to use the story of David to reach me. I knows this may shock you, but I am a sinner. I have made mistakes. Ones that have altered my life. But I chose to be like David and keep coming back to God. I chose to walk as closely with God as I possibly can. I want to be known as the girl after God's own heart. God has taken away one of my dreams only to replace it with a better dream. He does restore.
But the restoration process, the walk with God, the being a girl after God's own heart? It is a possibility, but only By God's Amazing Grace.
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