It doesn’t matter where you are in your spiritual life with God. Your deepest desire and declaration to God should be, “I KNOW I AM A WORK IN PROGRESS BUT YOU CAN STILL USE ME.”
Whether you are a babe in Christ or 25 years or more into your walk, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Philippians 2:13-16 (Amplified version) reminds us that even a mature Christian has not fully attained the knowledge that God would like to reveal to us. The key is to continue to look back on advancements you have made towards reaching your purpose in spreading the gospel and to repent and make the necessary changes along the way when you make mistakes.
We see in I Samuel 21:1-9 that David was running from Saul, because Saul had become jealous and afraid of David because of the accolades he was getting. He wanted David dead.
There may be people in your life who will not receive or accept you for who you are because of jealousy or even because of a knowledge of who you used to be. You cannot allow those who are in pursuit of who you are called to be to stop you from saying “yes” to God’s call or to stay stuck in your walk.
Saul was in pursuit of David’s life which, in turn, would put an end to his purpose in life.
David went to the house of God FIRST. He went to the Priest and misled him in order to get the provisions he needed to continue his fight.
We see here that David had a call on his life, yet he was not a perfect man. He fled from Saul but instead of seeking God FIRST for how to get provisions he went to the Priest and lied to get them. Because of the lie that was told the Priest gave him the provisions and ended up murdered by King Saul’s men when Saul found out. If David had consulted GOD first instead of leaning to his own understanding the Priest and all his father’s household may have been saved from the slaughter of Saul’s men. (I Samuel 22:9-19)
David made many mistakes in his walk with God yet God still said David was a man after His own heart. Even the story of his murder of Uriah and the adultery that occurred with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, though he had consequences, did not deter the purpose that was on his life because he repented. God continued to use him. His mistake, no doubt, humbled him and caused him to be more careful, however, he still had a purpose to fulfill.
We should never allow our failures or mistakes to cause us to shrink back from our purpose. Remember, these three (3) things: 1. “The reason you mess up is because you tried.” 2. “Failure teaches you a new way to try.” 3. “Failure is training.” – Pastor Mike Todd, Transformation Church.
As you go through your walk with Christ and you make mistakes and make better decisions as you grow always remind yourself that God created you for purpose with these words, I KNOW I’M A WORK IN PROGRESS BUT YOU CAN USE ME.