Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Many of us have read this scripture, but have a hard time believing it could ever pertain to us. “You don’t know my past,” you argue, “There is no way God will ever give ME a hope and a future!” You are wrong, my friend. If God can’t use you because of your past, then He can’t use any of us. We ALL have things in our past that we are ashamed of. We ALL have things that we have done or things that were done to us in our past that keep us from being all that God wants us to be. Let me tell you a secret: God loves to use broken vessels to glorify His name! If God couldn’t use us because of our past, then His will would NEVER be accomplished. The Bible is full of men and women with a past that God has used to glorify His name. Following are two examples of how God can use men and women with a past:
Moses was a man with a past. Moses murdered an Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. When Moses realized that his crime had become known, he panicked and ran away. Years later the Israelites’ cry out to God to deliver them from their captors and God speaks to Moses from a burning bush. Moses did not want to be the one God used to deliver the Israelites. Moses argued with God, but God still chose to use him. This was not the end of the story for Moses. Even after God convinced Moses to obey Him, Moses slipped up. In Exodus 4:24, we find God ready to kill Moses. Why? Moses had not circumcised his son, as was one of God’s commands for the Israelites. Zipporah, wife of Moses, circumcises their son and saves her husband’s life. Despite his past, God chose to use Moses to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians.
According to Joshua 2:1 Rahab was a prostitute. She was a woman with a past. God knew that and chose to use her anyway. Joshua sent out two spies to look over the land that God had promised them. He specifically told them to go check out Jericho. They went and stayed in the home of Rahab, who hid them from the king of Jericho. Rahab had heard of the miracles that God performed on behalf of the Israelites and believed in the God of the Israelites as a result. Because of her faith, God saved Rahab and her family when the Israelites attacked Jericho. Not only did God protect Rahab and her family, Matthew 1:5 lists her in the genealogy of Jesus. Imagine, Rahab, the prostitute, a direct ancestor of the Messiah!
God has a plan for your life. God can use you, regardless of your past, to accomplish His will. There is always hope when we abide in God. There is nothing in your past that God cannot use to glorify His name. I am encouraging you to surrender whatever it is that’s keeping you from embracing the future God has for you. Give it to God. He can take it and turn it into a beautiful testimony of His love and mercy. Let it go and embrace the future God has for you.
Patti Burris 
Leave a Reply