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The Crosswalk Devotional: A Daily Devotional Chris... - God Can Use the Part of Your Story You Wish Were Different · The Light

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to
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  Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is how God
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  Speaker 1: uses us no matter what our past looks like. We'll
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  Speaker 1: return with the devotion after a brief message from our sponsors.
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  Speaker 1: God can use the part of your story you wish
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  Speaker 1: were different. Written and read by Sarah Fraser. And he
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  Speaker 1: said to him, Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold,
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  Speaker 1: my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am
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  Speaker 1: the least in my father's house. And the Lord said
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  Speaker 1: to him, But I will be with you, and you
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  Speaker 1: shall strike the Midianites as one man. Judges 6, 15-16
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  Speaker 1: If God had handed 24-year-old Sarah a list of everything
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  Speaker 1: she would eventually be responsible for, she might have handed
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  Speaker 1: it right back. As a young new mom, I had
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  Speaker 1: no idea the journey God would put me on as
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  Speaker 1: I started out through motherhood. I did not feel equipped
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  Speaker 1: to bring a newborn home that spring morning, but I did.
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  Speaker 1: As the years moved on, I found myself adding more
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  Speaker 1: and more children. We ended up with five. Homeschooling was
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  Speaker 1: next on the agenda, and then God gave us a
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  Speaker 1: special needs daughter. After that, God moved our family to
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  Speaker 1: a foreign country, then moved us back. So many parts
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  Speaker 1: of my story I have wished to be different. There
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  Speaker 1: were moments of tears and heartache. In those times, I
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  Speaker 1: didn't really see how God would use this part of
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  Speaker 1: my story. Most of us have circumstances, weaknesses, disappointments, and
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  Speaker 1: limitations we would change if we could. We assume that
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  Speaker 1: these unwanted parts of our life make us less useful
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  Speaker 1: to God. Years later, I'm learning that we often believe
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  Speaker 1: God needs a more qualified version of us, but in reality,
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  Speaker 1: He only needs a willing heart. Gideon looked at his
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  Speaker 1: own story and saw reasons God couldn't use him. God
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  Speaker 1: saw something entirely different. In Judges 6, 14-15, we read
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  Speaker 1: that God calls Gideon to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites.
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  Speaker 1: Gideon's immediate response was to list all of the reasons
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  Speaker 1: why he shouldn't be God's leader. Judges 6, 15 basically says,
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  Speaker 1: How can someone with my background possibly do this? We
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  Speaker 1: do something similar when we look at our past, personality,
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  Speaker 1: family circumstances, weaknesses, disappointments, or lack of resources. We often
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  Speaker 1: see this as a disqualification. But God did not change
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  Speaker 1: Gideon's story before he called him. God answered Gideon in
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  Speaker 1: the same way that God answers us. Judges 6.16 says,
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  Speaker 1: Notice that God didn't correct Gideon's assessment of his circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: What Gideon said was true. He was who he said
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  Speaker 1: he was. God didn't change anything about Gideon's family. background
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  Speaker 1: or resume. It would actually be God's presence, not Gideon's qualifications,
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  Speaker 1: that would make the difference. God doesn't need to rewrite
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  Speaker 1: your past before he can use your present. The Bible
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  Speaker 1: is filled with the truth that God works with those
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  Speaker 1: who are weak. God does not use us despite our weakness,
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  Speaker 1: but through our weakness. He does this so his strength
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  Speaker 1: is visible and he gets the glory. Not only that,
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  Speaker 1: parts of your story have provided deep spiritual growth in
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  Speaker 1: your life. There might be things you learned, experienced, and
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  Speaker 1: grew in while facing the hardships that you wouldn't have
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  Speaker 1: otherwise done. If you have removed the hard parts of
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  Speaker 1: your past, you might not have developed the compassion you
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  Speaker 1: have now. Or maybe you learned dependence and humility in
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  Speaker 1: a deeper way. God certainly grants us wisdom and faith
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  Speaker 1: while going through storms. We might not always understand why
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  Speaker 1: God allowed something. We don't need to call painful things good.
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  Speaker 1: But we can trust that God is able to redeem
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  Speaker 1: what we hadn't we would have never chosen. Your weakness
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  Speaker 1: does not limit God's strength. Gideon's confidence couldn't ultimately come
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  Speaker 1: from discovering something impressive about himself. It came from God's presence.
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  Speaker 1: If God is asking you to do a new type
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  Speaker 1: of work, step into a new role, or take on
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  Speaker 1: more responsibility, remember, this isn't about being enough. It is
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  Speaker 1: all about God's promise. I will be with you. When
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  Speaker 1: our usefulness in God's kingdom rests more on His sufficiency
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  Speaker 1: than ours, we find that we are already equipped for
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  Speaker 1: what God is calling us to do. Maybe there is
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  Speaker 1: a chapter in your life you still wish you could rewrite.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt or wish
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  Speaker 1: it happened differently, but you also don't have to believe
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  Speaker 1: it disqualifies you The God who looked at Gideon and
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  Speaker 1: all of his weakness and said, I will be with you,
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  Speaker 1: is still the God who works with imperfect people and
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  Speaker 1: imperfect stories today. If I could sit beside that 24-year-old
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  Speaker 1: version of myself today, I wouldn't hand her a list
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  Speaker 1: of everything coming. That would be overwhelming. Honestly, I wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: even give her a warning, right? Perhaps I would prepare
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  Speaker 1: her for hardship, but that often doesn't help. Instead, I
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  Speaker 1: would simply say, God is with you. He has always
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  Speaker 1: been and always will be. Looking back, I can see
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  Speaker 1: that God didn't always change the circumstances I wished were different. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: He used them to change me. Yes. Some of it
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  Speaker 1: will be hard. But in the hard things, there will
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  Speaker 1: be so many good things. God's goodness shines so bright
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  Speaker 1: when we rest in His character. Friend, these parts of
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  Speaker 1: your story have made you who you are. God does
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  Speaker 1: not make mistakes. Even if you wish you had a
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  Speaker 1: different background, different abilities, different circumstances, or even a different personality.
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  Speaker 1: God Gideon's story reminds us that God isn't searching for
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  Speaker 1: the person with the perfect resume. He is looking for
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  Speaker 1: people willing to trust Him. Whatever God places in front
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  Speaker 1: of you today, you don't need to know whether you
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  Speaker 1: are strong enough. You only need To remember the promise
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  Speaker 1: that was enough for Gideon. I will be with you.
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  Speaker 1: Intersecting faith and life. What parts of your story do
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  Speaker 1: you wish were different? Do you use these things to
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  Speaker 1: give excuses to not follow God's call in your life? Today,
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  Speaker 1: ask God to help you trust that he is with you.
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  Speaker 1: His presence is enough. Additional reading. 2 Corinthians 12, 9, 10.
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  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29. Exodus 4, 10-12. Psalm 139, verses 13-16.
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians 2, 10. Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If
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