Little Ole Me

Can You Use Little Ole Me?
http://mtlmagazine.com/mtlmagazine/inthisissue/inthisissue.php?id=29
None of us are anything without the breath of God motivating, empowering and sanctifying us to do the work He has ordained to be our part of His mighty plan for this world. Many times I marvel that one little word out of my mouth could have a great impact on the life of someone, or even a nation (now that's far out, man!). How could God plan that, and how did He know that I would do it?
How does one describe God's call on our lives? In the beginning I would often say, “Who am I, Lord, that You would choose me?” Then one day I heard Randy Clark teaching on “God Can Use Little Ole Me” and I was reassured that even I, a wife with a houseful of children living in the rural areas of Wisconsin, could be the Lord's ambassador. That catchphrase has become the standard of my life, supporting the call I'd heard years before in the song based upon Isaiah's response to the Lord's call (see Isaiah 6:1-9). Isaiah didn't think he was worthy to be in the Lord's presence, much less to be His ambassador, but God cleansed his sin and asked him to serve Him. By faith, I believe the same applies to me and anyone God has called to do His work. He's God, He can appoint anyone He wants! The neat thing is that we aren't appointed based upon our merit, but upon His—and that's all we need.
Since the day I heard those affirmations, I've concentrated on positioning myself so that I can 'hear' and 'see' with the spiritual ears and eyes God has opened within me. ‘Hearing’ and 'seeing’ in the spiritual realm isn't an instantaneous ability; it must be practiced and fine tuned. Just like the Christian walk, we never reach perfection in hearing and seeing in the spiritual arena—we're always tweaking our understanding. Just when we think it's a sure thing, the Lord throws a monkey wrench in the works and speaks in an entirely different way than we've encountered in the past and we feel once again like we know nothing. It is the outworking of Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to hide a thing and the glory of kings to find it out.” In essence, we really don't know anything for sure, because nothing is certain but that the Lord loves us, desires a relationship with us and has plans for our lives way beyond all we can possibly imagine. That puts us full circle back at, “Who am I?” All I can do is respond with Isaiah, “Here am I, Lord. Send me!” I don't have to plan my next move, I don't have to evaluate which would be the best option for me, I don't have to seek opportunities, because the Lord has already ordained them to be. All I have to do is seek Him for direction.
God's call on my life for foreign ministry was put into motion in 1994 at a Vineyard conference; however, I have always had a heart for other nations. In high school social studies class, when we had to report on a current event from the media, I took something from a Russian magazine (at the time, I thought I chose it because there was no competition for that material since it was the Cold War era and not too many people favored the Soviet Union). My creative writing assignment in English was a short story about Arabia, yet unfinished today. Cultural geography fascinated me so much in college that I chose to major in it, mostly thanks to one professor at a local college. After our eldest son was a foreign exchange ambassador to another country for 11 months, I wrote a newsletter for the youth ambassadors of that organization for several years. I lived for the vicarious experiences I read in the students' reports and got great pleasure in exhorting them to keep on looking for extraordinary opportunities to enrich their experience.
The series of articles which will be published in the months ahead under this umbrella come from experiences I've had and lessons I’ve learned on ministry trips. For some reason, I had to be in a foreign country to 'see' what I saw. I also have to say that being in those countries has opened my eyes to more easily see things from the Lord's perspective in my own country.
So, this is my invitation to you to come, relax and enjoy what the Lord has to say to you through the fruits of my experiences. I pray what you read will be edification for your soul and spirit and exhortation for you to seek the Lord for His plans for your life. May you be empowered to go out and do likewise, fulfilling your portion of the Great Commission.
Blessings
Darlene Stern