Three Paths Diverged

So many times this past summer when I was teaching a lesson to the kids or was ministering to the community, so many life lessons and things that the Lord wanted me to learn sunk in way faster than they ever could just hearing them. I think that is one of countless reason why it is in our best interests to serve the Lord. 
The last week that we were in Houston, I had the opportunity to teach the teens. There were thirteen year olds there. There was a college student there. There was even a six month old baby there that belonged to one of our teen couples who were both there as well. So there was definitely a wide range of folks there. As I was thinking what could I tell these teens that would have some sort of impact on their life, I was talking to one of my fellow missionaries. She told me about how she had talked to the teens at a different center about the stoning of Stephen which had Saul's approval. I sat and thought about it for a while and God came up with something brilliant. It was and still is my hope that I can convey the amount of brilliance that God revealed. 
So, if you look at the passage in Acts 7 starting in verse 54, you can read about how Stephen was proclaiming God and made some of the more powerful people of the day very angry. So angry that they began to stone him! There is one little short snippet in there about how Saul approved of all that was going on. If you remember later Saul experiences a dramatic conversion and becomes one of the greatest Christian leaders in all of history. He had made some of the roughest and worst mistakes that people consider when ranking mistakes. Its a pretty bad mistake to kill people, wouldn't you say? Add to that killing A LOT of people and because they were Christians too! So as far being the ultimate sinner (in the eyes of man) he had that spot claimed! However, like I said and like many of you know, Paul was one of the greatest Christian leaders ever! He traveled all over the Roman Empire spreading the Good News and created many converts. He was heavily persecuted for his choices but stood strong in the face of adversity. He was able to make such an amazing transformation through God that by the end of his life he was able to tell people that they could use his life to emulate. I certainly don't want people to use my life as a pattern for their own. That will take a lot more fire and shaping from the Lord to create any sort of worthy map. God was able to use Paul both despite and because of his failures. 
Then, there is David. David was the second king over the Israelites. He was the guy who was anointed by Samuel when he was still a young shepherd boy. He was also the very same who killed Goliath the giant with just a sling and a stone. He was the writer of much of the psalms. He definitely was a very influential man on the Christian faith. However, he had some truly epic failures. Most notably was when Bathsheba entered the picture. He is just strolling around on the roof and he spots this woman bathing. He immediately decides that he must have her. So check coveting on the list. Then he has her brought over to his castle. One check for stealing. Then he sleeps with her. Another check for adultery. Then he sends her back to her house and acts like nothing happened. Another check for lying. Then when he finds out she is pregnant he tries to concoct this plan to have Bathsheba's husband go home to her and therefore think the baby was his. Double check - lying. However, that plan fails. So, David has the soldier sent to the front lines where he is assuredly killed. Check for murder. Then, he marries her, she has the baby, and the baby ends up dying. That is five out of the ten commandments right there! However, God restores him after his failures. David ends up being praised as a man after God's own heart. What greater praise! David was following God and then takes one epic detour but God still allows him to even be on the path at all much less in the right direction. 
The last example I want to use is Mary. Mary stands in stark contrast to the other two people above. She was considered blameless. She found favor with the Lord. She didn't go through all of the other junk that the two guys earlier did. She walked with the Lord the whole time. Now, the reason that I bring her up is because she too is one of the greatest people in the Bible. She also can stand as an example to how you don't have to have all this junk going on in your life to make for a spectacular testimony. She represents  how God can use the people who haven't come from wretched life of sin or have sinned majorly even after they have come to the Lord. She resisted the temptation to do all of the stuff that the others around her were doing and knew that was enough.
So, what I am saying is that no matter where you are at or you think you are at on your journey dealing with sin, that God can use you. If you grew up doing lots of bad things, God can forgive you and help you move forward. If you are already a Christian but have had a few or maybe a lot of missteps along the way God is still there to guide and direct you. Lastly, if you have been serving the Lord diligently, you don't have to have a fantastic, jaw-dropping, scandalous story to share the Gospel. God uses all people and each of them are a key asset to the kingdom of God.