God Uses Others

SOURCE:  Newsletter, First Presbyterian Church of Colorado City, Tx.  April 2004
KEYWORDS: 

Rev. Chuck Fisher near death wrote this article for his church’s newsletter.

Sleep stood evasively at a distance on Monday night and early Tuesday morning.  All kinds of thoughts and feelings passed through my mind in the midst of the insomnia…

So, I thought maybe God is trying to tell me something--something very special that I have not yet heard.  Hoping that to be the case, I got up and began to sit and ponder.  In the early morning quietness, I pleaded for God to speak.

As I listened carefully, I reflected over all the wonderful cards and notes expressing both great concern and appreciation for the things I have done.  I am truly overwhelmed by the way folks have been touched by words and my work in the world.  I realize now that some of what I consider the most insignificant gestures and the simplest things have touched people in very meaningful ways.  I know that I am certainly far from perfect.  There is so much more I could have done, should have done, to make this world a kinder, gentler place.  But, even my feeble efforts have helped others in a variety of ways--as I hear daily in cards and letters.

Now, I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m bragging.  For, I am not.  I just find it strange and amazing that through doing plain old ordinary stuff--being present when people were hurting, hanging out in waiting rooms, visiting rehab centers and hospitals, sharing doubts and questions, searching for good when evil seems so pressing--wonderful things have happened.

I stand dumb struck to hear and feel how God has used this sinful individual to bring good news to others.  We see it time and time again in Scripture:  King David, the adulterous murderer;  Amos, the simple fig picker from Tekoa;  Isaiah, the man of unclean lips; the impetuous Simon Peter who denied Christ three times in one night; and the Apostle Paul, persecutor of the Church.  All became servants of the one true God.  And even Chuck Fisher with all his baggage of years of hard living, God has used for good service.