Daily Devotional – 12/29/16 “God has need of you!”

Her clothes were skimpy, body covered with tattoos and hair the color of the rainbow. She walked the streets selling herself to every person she thought could fill the emptiness on the inside of her. See, her son passed away at the age of two; heart disease, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t bring herself out of the depression that called her name day after day. Her family loved her but they couldn’t help her. She tried drugs/alcohol but even they didn’t help. One day she got into the car of a man she’d serviced before. He had a smile that made you trust him and she did. But this day the smile faded and the monster appeared. He raped and beat her, leaving her at the edge of the city for dead. She was in a coma for seven days. On the eighth day, she opened her eyes and saw a man walking around her bed. She couldn’t make out what he was saying but he kept touching her. She tried to speak, she tried to move but couldn’t. So she closed her eyes and whispered within her spirit, “Lord, I surrender,” before drifting off to sleep. The next day she is awaken by the sounds of her mom calling her name. She opens her eyes and after the tubes are removed, she asks about the man. No one knew who she was talking about but she kept whispering, where’s the man?

After a few days, the hospital chaplain comes in and she recognizes him. She ask him about that night and he explains that God allowed her to sleep until the 8th day because 8 represents her being resurrected from a past of guilt, shame and depression. He explains his reasoning for coming between the hours of 6pm-9pm because this was the ‘watch’ of healing. He further explained that God has a purpose for her life. She had trouble believing him because of the life she lived and she asked, “Why would God want somebody like me?” He replied, “God doesn’t want you, He needs you.” And for somebody reading this who thinks God won’t use you because of your past mistakes and present sin; you’re wrong. Beloved, God has need of you and your story. And it’s time you tell it. Somebody’s deliverance is dependent on your testimony. Somebody’s release is pending waiting on your story. In fact, your restoration/regeneration will only happen when you tell your story. Then you can say like Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” In other words, my suffering saved me! God doesn’t want you, He said He can make rocks cry out but He has need of you to help somebody else.