Does God Use Cowards?

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by Doug Nichols Facing the future
The term ‘fear not’ is found manytimes in the Bible. There are almost as many ‘fear not’ statements as there aredays in the year. I feel that each of these statements is there for me, becauseI am not a brave person. I am intimidated by others, terrified to speak inpublic and afraid in dangerous situations.
In 1994 I was working in Zaire amongRwandan refugees. People were being slaughtered nightly; each morning we walkedamong the bodies on the ground. In three terrifying days, 50,000 people died. Iwas afraid.
Recently I awoke in the middle ofthe night worried for my country’s future with its abortions, debt, hopelessmillions without employment, bad economy and declining morality. How will wecontinue to support mission work around the world?     My wife, Margaret, often challengesmy fears with a passage from I Peter: ‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under themighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting allyour anxieties on him, because he cares for you’ (I Peter 5:6-7, ESV).      Fear and worry are sources of pride.We often think that by worrying we are somehow in charge, when, in fact, onlyGod can handle the terrible situations we face. Even in a dangerous, difficultand sinful world, God will take care of his children.     Cast it all on God
So let’s do that today. Let’s cast allour fears, anxieties, and worries on God because he cares for us.
One thing that causes fear is thethought that God could never use you.But when you feel God cannot use you, it is helpful to remember that Noah was adrunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a day-dreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah wasugly, Joseph was spoiled, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid,Sampson was a womaniser, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were tooyoung, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Jonah ranfrom God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied Christ, the disciplesslept through prayer, Martha worried over everything, the Samaritan woman wasdivorced more than once, Zacchaeus was too small, Timothy had a stomachproblem, and Lazarus was dead.
‘But God has chosen the foolishthings of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things ofthe world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of theworld and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that he maynullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God’ (1Corinthians 1:27-29, NASB).