In Spite of Us...

It’s funny how we think so highly of ourselves we forget that without Him, we can do nothing. I will reverently take that a bit further. Even at our worst, God can still use us.
My first job out of college was at Tampa General Hospital doing barium enemas. If you’ve ever had one you never forget it. If you haven’t, now there’s something you can be grateful for on a daily basis. One summer, a new tech was “assigned” to my exam room. It happened to be the worst summer of my life (I was such a drama queen). I went to nine weddings that summer and felt like God had abandoned me. Single and very much looking, I was left behind. I cried everyday, moaned and complained, totally in the flesh. And yet at the end of the summer, that tech said to me, “You’re different. I want what you have.” After the shock and awe wore off, a sense of humility was borne in me that day as I realized there is nothing in myself that would draw anyone to Jesus but Jesus Himself. He is really the only good that dwells in me (Romans 7:18). But I rejoice that He is powerful enough to shine through me, even at my worst. Pastor Rob Cassata, Plant City Church of God once said, “Darkness is the backdrop for light to show up.” Even the darkness of my own flesh.