HOW TO BE USEFUL TO THE LORD ¹
CHAPTER ONE
WEEK 1 - TUESDAY
Bible Reading: Acts 9:3-5; 22:6
Read and pray: “And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’” (Acts 9:4)
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD'S PLAN AND MAN
God has a plan. All of God's work in the universe, from ages past to eternity future, is carried out according to His plan. This plan must be fulfilled by man and also in man. Therefore, God desires to gain all His created and redeemed people for the fulfillment of His plan.
Do not think that God’s using us today is an accident. God’s use of us is entirely based on His predetermined plan. Everyone whom God uses is within the sphere of His plan. Since God's plan is fulfilled only in man, God needs to use man greatly. Just as an individual, being a citizen of a certain country, is within the sphere of that country’s utility and can be used by it, so we, who belong to the kingdom of God, are within the sphere where we can be used by Him.
THE NECESSITY OF GOD'S CALLING
All who have been saved have the position and potential to be used by God. God confirms man's usefulness to Him not only when He creates and redeems him but also when He calls him.
The reason God created and redeemed man is that He intends to use him. However, from man’s perspective, creation and redemption alone are not enough to convince him that God intends to use him.
Therefore, God must also call man to confirm His intention of using him. In other words, we may feel that, although God has created and redeemed us, He may not necessarily use us.
Only when we have clarity about God's calling to us can we say with conviction that He intends to use us. Therefore, for us, God's calling is a confirmation of His intention to use us. Now, the question we must ask ourselves is: “Has God called us? And how do we know that He has called us?”
THE VISITATION OF GOD
We may have the concept that understanding God's calling is a difficult matter. In reality, we only need to ask ourselves whether, from the day we were saved until now, we have ever had the feeling of wanting to be used by the Lord or have ever heard, deep within us, a gentle and soft voice saying that the Lord desires to use us.
If we have had this feeling, then we can know that the Lord has called us. For us, having a heart willing to be used by the Lord is the result of an extraordinary work of the Lord. This work is far greater than the Lord’s work in creating us.
The Lord’s work in creating us was not as great as His work in placing within us a heart willing to be used by Him. His working in man in this way is His greatest way of visiting him. In other words, this work happens when He comes to man and visits him.
How did we come to have a heart willing to be used by the Lord? Before, we did not even care about Him, yet to our surprise, we now have the desire to serve for His use. This proves that this is the Lord’s visitation and that His grace has come to us.
For the past thousands of years, God has come to man and visited him countless times. Unfortunately, not many in the church today have sensed His visitation. God always comes to man, yet man often puts Him aside. We should not think that to receive God’s calling, we need to hear a thunderous voice or see a great light, as Paul did on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:3; 22:6).
In reality, in principle, the gentle and soft voice within us is no different from the calling Paul received on the road to Damascus. We can use the light of the sun as an illustration. Although there is a difference between the mild light of dawn and the intense rays of midday, the sun is the same.
Similarly, although God sometimes calls man in an extraordinary way, most of the time, He appears to and visits man in an ordinary way. God's visitation to man is the confirmation of His desire to use him and the beginning of His use of man.
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¹ This book consists of messages given by Brother Witness Lee in April and May 1955 in Baguio, Philippines. It comprises six chapters that speak on how a Christian can become useful in the Lord’s hands to carry out the divine commission in God’s economy of grace.
Enjoy more: Hymn 208
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