Only Perfect in God’s Eyes: Calling the Unqualified

(Philippians 4:13, NIV) "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Within God’s awe-inspiring Word are books written by several disciples who listened to God and scribed His accounts to teach us all that there is hope. Hope in God the Father, hope in His Son Jesus Christ, who gave His life that we may all live in eternity through Him. The disciples God spoke to were of a colorful past, to be blunt about it. David and Paul wrote many books in the Bible, both of whom had committed terrible offenses in their lives, but God inspired them to write His Word for all eternity to share. Peter denied Christ three times, yet God still made him a leader of the Church in Jerusalem. Since I entered the ministry, I have discovered that many of the pastors who mentored me also had colorful pasts. At the beginning of this ministry journey, I feared that God could not use me to do His work, yet here I am, answering His call. As a young man, I would have never thought I would be writing a book on Christian character; I mean, seriously, I failed at so many things in life—why even try? To be polite about it, I was a bad kid, but He called me to do something for His kingdom and never lost faith in me. I can often say I lost faith in God, but when I came back to Him, He was always there for me with arms wide open to receive me. I am a creation of the Father made in His image and saved for eternity through His Son Jesus Christ. As I write this book, during several chapters, I would wince at the actions I am reminded of that I had the fortitude to carry through with as a child. I see myself growing as I write into a better—but nowhere perfect—person. My desire in serving God through this book is that by showing you the paths I took in life, you may, in some ways, be comparable to. You may see yourself in some or many of my actions as I struggled to find myself and my purpose. You may wonder how someone that stupid could be writing a Christian book to lift others. As I grow older and reflect on my past, I often ask the same questions. God has made us in His image; He has embedded a will within us that we might make decisions and learn from them so that our examples lead others to Him. I will tell you right now that I can say with certainty that my actions have led many to Christ. I can say when all the family was growing up, and grandchildren came along and worshipped with my wife and me, we could look down the aisle on both sides of us, and our whole family was sitting with us worshipping every Sunday. Not too many people nowadays can say that. I had the honor of baptizing my grandchildren; I had the distinct privilege of being baptized myself alongside my beautiful wife and children. As I raised my children to serve God, so have my children raised their children to serve God as well. My daughter and her children have gone on mission trips to third-world countries after answering the call of God. My son has selflessly served in the military, thinking of his country while also serving his God. I pray that you will see yourself and your past in this book somewhere and know that you are headed on the right path to follow God’s calling. Humanity is not perfect; we are all born sinners, and unless we listen to God’s call, we will never be set free of eternal death—but rather accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Look in your mirror past and see if you can see yourself like me, growing, learning, and loving the Lord every day. Yes, we do idiotic things as we travel through life, but it never disqualifies us from being a disciple of God the Father. C.S. Lewis states it all so eloquently: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start from where you are and change the ending.” Be not afraid to be who God designed you to be. Become a disciple of God and answer your calling, whatever it may be. We are all qualified to be one of His!