#12 How God Can Use You

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Hey there, welcome to the Mental Refuge podcast. Here we talk all things mental health and Christianity. I am your host, Angela McDonald. I run my website, The Mental Refuge, where I talk about my own personal struggles, mental illness, while also being a Christian and a mom of two. And I help others by giving tips and tricks on what has helped me. To be clear, this is my story. I personally live with bipolar disorder and live with anxiety, so I know what it's like to go through the trenches of life and to feel alone. My goal is to bring you weekly tips and education on how to thrive with your mental health, while giving you real examples from my own life and to also provide you with a much needed dose of Jesus. I hope you stick around and stay awhile. Have you ever wondered if God can ever use you, you may have even thought that you are too far gone for him to use you friend do not be misled. And today's episode, I'm going to tell you a story of how God used me one night to carry out his purpose and how he can use an ordinary person like yourself to. If you're new here. Welcome. I am Angela. I'm a wife and a mom of two, and I live with bipolar disorder. I'm also a Christian and I believe that Jesus therapy and medication all go hand in hand. While you're here. I wanted to talk to you about my mental health project. I've been working on the rescued and restored workbook. This is a 65 page downloadable mental health workbook that is filled with worksheets prompts and scripture to read in times of depression and anxiety. This is not your momma's old fashioned journal. This is a workbook filled with worksheets that you can use to dig deeper into learning more about yourself. You can also bring these sheets with each, your therapist or doctor so they can understand your stressors or triggers better so they can better treat you. It's also filled with anxiety, trackers, mood trackers, and sleep trackers. It is jam packed with stuff, and I don't want you to miss out on it. Simply head on over to my website, the mental refuge.com and check it out. So now let's get back on today's topic about how God can use ordinary people like you and me to complete his tasks. So first my story one night, probably back in 2012, 2013 ish. If I had to guess, I'm not sure the timeline is a little fuzzy. I was woken up in the middle of the night and I just could not stop thinking about this one, couple. I knew now I think it's important to note this couple. I know we weren't exactly friends who hung out together. Like not one bit. We knew each other from college and we were Facebook friends, but other than that, we had zero contact with each other. I hadn't seen them in years. So the fact that I was woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't stop thinking about them was a little strange. But if there's one thing that you should know about me, it's that if I have someone completely random on my mind like that, then I pray for them. And this is the story of why I do that. So I woke up in the middle of the night. I couldn't stop thinking about them. And I just felt like God was telling me. Angela, just pray for them. So I did. I didn't know what in the world I was praying for, but I prayed for them. I prayed for their health, for their families, for their finances, anything and everything I could think of. Just. When I thought I was done. Praying God will pop. Pop something else into my mind. And I prayed. For a solid. Our for. This couple that I have zero contact with other than liking my Facebook posts. And I don't want this to come off as brackish. Like I prayed for a solid hour. I don't want that to come across like that at all. But I think it's important to know. Um, basically that I had someone random on my mind and I listened to God. And I just kept on praying in the middle of the night. And it, it really helped me with, um, my connection with God, with me listening to God. And I'm going to continue this story just so you can see where I'm going with it. So I eventually went back to sleep and I honestly thought nothing of it the next morning when I woke up. But I opened up Facebook, like I usually do in the morning that morning, the girl that I had just prayed for for the night before post it, that her and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for two years and that they had recently had a miscarriage. They had, I think they have one or two miscarriages, actually. I can't remember exactly. Um, but they had definitely just had one. Right, right around that time period. So she was asking for prayer on this post. She had prayed and prayed. Her immediate family had prayed for two years. But she had never asked for outside help. Like she never put it out there on Facebook before for the whole world to see. But she said in her post that she felt like God was telling her to put her testimony out there and to ask for prayer from her friends near and far, the others needed to hear her story. So she posted on Facebook, asking for prayer for her to get pregnant and not have any more miscarriages. Once I saw her post, I knew I needed to message her. I messaged her that morning. And I told her how, I just couldn't believe it. Like I couldn't get her and her husband off of my mind the night before, and that I have prayed for them. I told her how I didn't know what to pray for, but I was glad that I saw her post because now I knew exactly what I needed to pray for. And you will never guess what she said. She said several other people messaged her and said that they were also woken up in the middle of the night and prayed for her too. Like I had goosebumps when she told me that at that moment, it was like, God was telling me. See I'm using you like your prayers matter. At the time and I've never publicly admitted this, but, um, I had a roommate and I lived with one of my friends, but I would go over to my now husband's condo back when we were dating and I would spend the night with him two to three times a week. So at that time, I was not living in God's will during that time in my life, even though I was going to church and even help to lead a Bible study at one point. I was sleeping over at my boyfriend's house a few times a week, but let me tell you something. Even though I wasn't living in godly standards. God is still used to me. And that is so important to know. He used me in the middle of the night to wake me up and told me to pray for that couple. He told me to pray for them for a solid hour because my prayers mattered. And you know what else? I was actually at my future husband's condo that night when I woke up to pray for them. So I was literally in his bed when God woke me up to pray for them. God didn't use me. When I was sitting at home reading my Bible. Or in the middle of a Bible study, it was in the middle of the night of an ordinary everyday night when he said. That's her that, so I want to use to pray. I wow. How powerful is that? So when I messaged that girl the next day, I was blown away when she told me that several other people had already messaged her and that they were also woken up in the middle of the night to pray for her. So how in the world was I special enough to be chosen, to be one of those people? Why in the world, but God choose me to pray for her. I was actively living in San with no intention of stopping, but yet God still used me for his purpose and his goodness and thinking about it right now. I think it's because I can share this story with you guys to whoever is listening, even if it's one person or a hundred people or a thousand people listening to this. I want you to know that you have a purpose and that God can use you no matter where you are. If you are not living in God's will for your life or godly standards, if you are sleeping over at your boyfriend's house. Uh, or, um, whatever you may be going through. You can absolutely be used by God. So I'm going to give you some biblical examples. Of seemingly ordinary people in the Bible that God used to advance his kingdom. So God didn't use perfect people to complete his mission on earth. He used broken people, just like you and me. Looking on the outside, you would never give these people a second thought, but God did. He saw a worth in them. He saw value in them. He saw a purpose in them. And he sees those things in you today. So my first example is Noah. So did you know that Noah became a drunkard? They, yeah, God purposely chose Noah to build the Ark knowing full well that he would end up drunk and he still chose him. Anyway, Noah's family was the only family in the world to be saved from that huge flood. God chose him and his family. And he was a broken man. It was after the flood that Noah became drunk, it says so in Genesis 9 21, he got drunk and laid in his tent naked. Have you ever done that? Literally after God washed away the world and saved him, he got wasted. God knew that he would do that. And yet he still chose him to carry out his mission. The second person that wants to talk about his rehab. We meet Ray Hab in the book of Joshua. If you don't think the Bible has all sorts of people from all walks of life, then you are wrong. Right. Hab with a prostitute. And God still used her to help his spies and to overtake Jericho. Her. A prostitute and guess what else? Uh, rehab ultimately became part of the lineage of Jesus himself. She gave birth to Bo ass. Remember him? He's the one who married Ruth. How incredible is that? The savior of the world is a descendant from Ray Hab, who was a prostitute. So did you hear that? God took a prostitute of all people and put her and the lineage of Jesus that just gives me chills. Next up and maybe the most famous one was the David. David was an adulterer and he even arranged for the murder of his lover's husband to talk about something out of a soap opera. He clearly disobeyed God's direction in many areas of his life. David later had a firm faith in God, in God, even called David a man of my own heart. And lastly. Kind of goes along with this, so I'm going to include it. Moses. We all love Moses don't we. Moses stuttered. He, he had a huge stuttering problem. He had a modern day speech impediment. Now that is certainly not a sin. But some would call a speech, impediment, something to hope them back. So he was an ordinary man, certainly ordinary man. Can't become well-known speech makers or leaders, right. And yet God made him a leader and a spokesman. And Moses is ultimately the one who wrote the 10 commandments. God used ordinary people to carry out his mission and he still does. Yes, he absolutely wants the best for us. And he wants for us to be in his will and not actively living in sin, but even if we aren't on the right path, he will still use us. Don't ever think you're too far gone to be used by him. You are not too far gone. God literally woke me up in the middle of the night while I was sleeping in my boyfriend's bed. To tell me to pray for a couple. He used me. I am honored that I'm able to be a part of that couple story. I think I will always remember that moment in my life. I am happy to report that literally three or four weeks after that girl made that Facebook post. She posted this. She became pregnant with her sweet baby girl. And then a few years later, she had another healthy baby with no more miscarriages or pregnancy problems. Her prayers were answered simply because she listened to God. By putting her story out there and ask for prayer from others. And myself and several others listened to and God told us to pray and we prayed hard. May this also be a reminder to pray for someone if they are on your mind. This couple is still one where I like their Facebook posts. I just don't see them a person. If there's ever a time when someone seemingly random is on your mind. stop and pray for them. Even if it's someone from high school that you haven't seen in 20 years, Even if, if it's someone who you just pass at the grocery store and said hi to. And yes, even if it is someone who has hurt you in the past. God has placed that person in your heart for a reason. So stop and pray for them. You just might found out how you help someone just like in my case, or you may have to wait until you get to heaven to see how you advance God's kingdom. Either way you will be so happy you stopped and prayed for that person. Father God, I thank you that you use ordinary people, such as myself to complete tasks for your kingdom, even when we are living in sin, even when we are running away from you, even when we are not living in your purpose for our lives. You use our prayers to carry on your missions and to further your kingdom, God, please guide us towards you and let us never lose focus of what you want us to do for you to advance your kingdom and to proclaim your name. Please continue to use us. This is in your precious and holy name. I pray. Amen. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you would like to support this podcast, please consider clicking on the link in the description area. If either apple podcast or Spotify or wherever you're listening from. This is a way where you can make a difference and help someone who might be struggling with their mental health. Also, if you will, please leave a review of this podcast, it really helps spread the word about it to others and believe it or not, it actually makes it visible to others so they can find it. I'll talk to you guys next week. Bye.