Are You Feeling All Used Up? - Your Nightly Prayer - July 3rd
Are You Feeling All Used Up?
By Lynette Kittle
TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE
“For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring'” - Acts 17:28
SOMETHING TO PONDER
Although I know what people mean when they say “God wants to use you,” it causes me to wince a little. The term “use you,” written and spoken in the past in a positive manner, now has a negative meaning in our current culture.
Sadly, in our day of age, and throughout history, people use people for all the wrong reasons including fulfilling their own purposes, plans, and gain. So many individuals today and through the ages have felt used up by people.
As well, God isn’t “using” us in the way to draw from, deplete, or take away, but rather He lives within us, giving us life and His Spirit. Giving, giving, giving, for our good and His purposes.
God gives us the gift, the privilege, to have Him residing within us. We get the joy of being a part of what He is doing in the world, to participate in accomplishing His will on earth.
Like the Apostle Paul explained, what God does and gives in our lives is gain, not ever a loss or of being used up by Him for His plans. As he described in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
God is looking for ways to move through us, already knowing how He’s prepared us for what He’s fashioned us to do in this life, as Isaiah 64:8 explains, “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.”
Likewise, Philippians 2:13 explains, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”
He’s fashioned us already with what we need for what He calls us to do. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10).
God has placed His purpose for our lives deep within us, and it is set for completion and brings goodness to this life. As Philippians 1:6 assures us, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
What God does in us, strengthens us, builds us up. It’s so unlike what the world tries to do to us by attempting to use us up and drain us of what God has put within us.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Dear Father, our hearts are full of gratitude in knowing You have fashioned and prepared us in advance to do Your good works. Lead us this week to follow Your plan and good will for our lives. Help us to let you direct our steps even when we don’t know where they are leading. Move through us today and every day to fulfill what You have placed within us, leading to complete what You have begun in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
1. Have you been feeling drained and running low in so many ways? Does it seem like life is depleting you from the inside out? If so, consider how God is the one who truly refuels us with His strength, joy, love, and so much more.
2. Consider how God prepared you ahead of time for the life you’re living right now. If you're not sure what His good will is for you or the work He has for you to do, ask Him to show you and direct your steps.
3. Think of ways you can encourage others around you who may be feeling used up. Ask God to give you insight and lead you in helping Him to refuel them.
Photo Credit: @Unsplash/Kinga Cichewicz
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
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