When God calls on you to do something, are you completely willing to let Him use you? God wants to use each true child of God, and you must be willing to be used. Never take God’s call to duty for granted no matter how small the task may seem. God can take the smallest task, and He can use it to increase our talents and our abilities for Him.

I want to take you to a parable found in Matthew. Jesus said, For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods (Matthew 25:14).

The man gave each of his servants talents to manage while he was gone. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey (Matthew 25:15). The master gave each servant what he knew they were capable of handling. Jesus knows our capabilities too, but many people let self and the devil get in the way and limit their capabilities.

When the master returned, he wanted to know how the servants had managed their talents. The servant who had received the five talents and the servant who had received the two talents had both doubled their talents. The servant who had received just one talent was full of fear; so instead of using his talent, he buried it. Child of God, have you buried your talents because you don’t feel comfortable or are afraid to use them for the Lord?

Don’t Be Unprofitable

It didn’t matter to the master how many talents each servant had; it mattered what they did with them. He equally praised the two servants who increased their talents saying, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21). We all need to be fruitful just as those servants were.

The master did not praise the servant who had buried his talent; and instead, he punished him. He took away that servant’s talent and gave it to someone else. Then he commanded, Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).

There was no valid reason why that servant could not have multiplied his talent. The Master had given talents to each servant according to his abilities; but because the unprofitable servant let fear take him over, he failed. Whenever you feel you lack the ability to do something for the Lord, you must remember what Paul said: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13).

Never Doubt What God Can Do

Moses was a great man of God who did mighty things for the Lord. When the Lord first visited him at the burning bush, the Lord told him he was to go before Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s children go. That was a big problem for Moses at that time because he lacked confidence, and it hindered God’s plan. Moses didn’t look at how God was going to use him; he only looked at his human self. He didn’t consider that God was the one who was going to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, not him.

When God calls you to do His work, you need to look to Him. You can’t allow your lack of confidence in yourself to cause you to doubt what God can do. You can’t doubt that He will increase your abilities and give you help in every situation. You have to trust in the Lord with your whole heart.

God has a divine plan for your life. You may not understand that plan at first, but understanding can wait while obedience cannot. Moses was raised in the comforts of the palace in Egypt; but when he left it to join his own people, he lived in the land of Midian and was a shepherd for forty years. That was a big change for him, but God knew Moses had to become familiar with the desert wilderness of Sinai and learn how to survive in it. Moses also learned patience and how to lead and take care of sheep.

Make No Excuses

Throughout his years in Midian, Moses didn’t know God was preparing him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt where they had been slaves for 400 years. When Moses first received the Lord’s call to duty, he had a hard time trusting the Lord; so God had to prove Himself to Moses.

The Lord told Moses to drop a rod on the ground, and the Lord turned it into a snake. The Lord told Moses to pick up the snake, and it turned back into a rod. Next, the Lord told Moses to put his hand into his bosom and pull it out. When he did, his hand was full of leprosy. The Lord told Moses to put his hand back into his bosom; and when he pulled it out again, it was normal.

You would think that seeing those things would really have boosted Moses’ confidence and made him completely ready to do what God wanted him to. Instead, Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue (Exodus 4:10).

In that scripture, Moses refers to himself as a servant; and he excuses himself for being slow of speech. When you are God’s servant, you need to serve Him in every capacity He wants you to. You can’t pick and choose what you want to do for the Lord; you have to serve Him in every way no matter what.

God Needs You

God responded to Moses by asking him, Who hath made man’s mouth…have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say (Exodus 4:11,12). That should have put all Moses’ excuses aside.

Moses had been given a great opportunity to be taught directly by the Lord; but instead of yielding to God’s will, Moses wanted God to choose someone else for the job. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses (Exodus 4:13,14). Finally, God gave over to what Moses wanted, and He chose Aaron, Moses’ brother, to do the speaking before Pharaoh. Unfortunately, Aaron became a great hindrance to God’s plan.

Let that be a lesson to you. If God asks you to do something, He doesn’t want to use someone else. You may be insecure or think someone else can do a better job, but God chose you; and when He calls you to do something for Him, He will give you the ability to do it. All you have to do is yield to Him.

Trust the Lord Completely

God had told Moses He would be with him; and the Bible says, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? Are you willing to push self aside and use your talents for the Lord? Will you let God increase those talents? You may think it is easier to just bury your talents, but you are making a huge mistake; and your wrong choice can hinder you and others.

When God called me to preach, I had to trust in the Lord one hundred percent, doubting nothing. At the time, my wife and I owned a business; and I played a big part in the growth of that business. We were blessed to have good employees, and I felt a responsibility to them. What was going to happen if I stopped bringing in the sales? Would we have to cut our staff and let some of our employees go? Would the business start to fail when I left?

In spite of all my questions, I knew I had to be in my place for the Lord and trust that He would work everything out. When you are living in God’s divine will, you have to trust that He will guide and protect you too. You must know that He will give you the wisdom and knowledge you need to handle any situation.

Accept God’s Divine Will

When I accepted my calling from God, I felt underqualified. I didn’t grow up in this Jesus ministry; and in fact, I didn’t really grow up in any ministry. Yes, I went to church once in a while as a child, but I didn’t really know anything about the Bible. Nevertheless, God had called me to do His work, and it was up to me to be an obedient and yielded vessel. I didn’t have to be a Bible scholar; I just had to have a willing heart, and what is in your heart makes the difference.

God has a divine plan for your life. You may not always understand it, but understanding can wait while obedience cannot. Your attitude should always be, “I will do anything for you, Lord.” When I accepted God’s divine plan, He provided me with two wonderful teachers—the Holy Spirit and Rev. Angley.

Do Things God’s Way

Other things that can hinder you from doing God’s will are ego, stubbornness and selfishness. You can never think you are above any job God calls you to do. When you think you are overqualified for the Lord’s work, you are on the road to becoming underqualified to make it into Heaven.

Many people start off letting God use them, but they allow lukewarmness to set in; and that allows the devil to start feeding their ego. Then their attitude begins to change, and obeying God is no longer the most important thing to them.

That is what happened to King Saul. He was from the smallest tribe of Israel, and his family was the least of all the families in that tribe; but the Bible says, There was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he (I Samuel 9:2). Saul was God’s choice to be the first king of Israel. He was very humble at first, and God used him to bring about great victories.

When Saul grew overconfident, he started doing things his way instead of God’s way. At one time, God told him, Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass (I Samuel 15:3). God clearly told Saul that he was to kill every person and animal, but Saul didn’t listen. He spared the king and saved the best of the animals.

Saul knew the commandment of the Lord, but he still did things his own way; and his disobedience affected the Lord so much that God told Samuel, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments (I Samuel 15:11).

Saul Wanted His Way

When you want to do things your way instead of God’s way, you are in trouble. There are people who have been greatly blessed by God and then stopped going to church because things were not done the way they thought they should be. It’s very sad to see people fail God, especially when it is one of your own family members.

At first, you grieve over the person’s soul; but over time, God will lift that burden if you look to Him. You have to put your loved ones into the hands of the Holy Spirit because He can convict them day and night, and that is something you cannot do.

When God told Samuel about Saul’s failure, Samuel was so grieved that he cried all night. When Samuel went to Saul, Saul told him the Lord’s commandments had been performed; but Samuel could hear the sheep making noise in the background, so he asked, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear (I Samuel 15:14)?

Saul gave what he thought was a reasonable answer: The people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed (I Samuel 15:15). That was not God’s thought.

When you act on the wrong thoughts, you will try to justify your disobedience. You will think you are right when you are completely wrong. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king (I Samuel 15:22,23).

Disobedience Leads to Destruction

Saul’s disobedience showed that God could not trust him to be an instrument He could use, so God chose David to take Saul’s place because he had a heart for the Lord. When you don’t use your talents for the Lord, He will give them to someone else.

The Bible says, The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him (I Samuel 16:14). When you don’t obey the Lord, the Spirit will depart from you too. That is why it’s so important for you to put God first no matter what is going on in your life. Being prayed up and having a fresh anointing from the Lord each day will make a big difference.

When the Spirit left Saul, depression and jealousy set in; and he eventually committed suicide. What a sad ending for Saul. God had chosen him to be the first king of Israel, but he died a failure in the Lord. Just because you are chosen by God to do a great task doesn’t mean you can’t fail. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Corinthians 10:12).

Give Your Heart to Jesus

If you are a child of God today, He wants you to have the vision for lost souls; so He can use you to help bring in the final harvest. He wants you to have divine humility in everything you do for the Lord, and He wants you to have the nine fruits of the Spirit working in your life. He wants you to pray, fast and live in the Word. He wants you to have the mind of Christ, so He can use you in any way He wants to; and He wants to feed your soul the right things.

If you will take this message to heart and are willing to be used by God, He will use you in a great way. However, if you are not born again, the first thing you need to do is accept Jesus Christ into your heart. Pray the sinner’s prayer on pages 5 and 6 of this magazine right now and begin your journey with the Lord.