Moses – Moses had a speech impediment.

Exodus 4:10, – Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

He was the first abandoned child mentioned in the Bible.

Exodus 2:3 – But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

Regardless of these issues that Moses had to deal with in his life, God still used him to do great things and lead Israel out of captivity and through the wilderness.   Don’t let your limitations or life situations make you feel like God can’t use you.  He can and wants to work through you to do great things.

Abraham – Is known as the father of Faith because he believed God.  But do you know that he also doubted God’s ability to give him and Sarah a Child in their old age.

Genesis 17:16-17 – I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”

God wants you to take him as his work and believe Him.  Sometimes, God’s plan for you is so big that you doubt that it would be possible like Abraham did.  Regardless of your first reaction when God revealed part of His big plan for your life, He is still willing to work through you and do miracles through you.  

Rahab – Was a prostitute but played a big role in hiding Joshua and the spies when they came to spy out the promise land.

Joshua 2:1-6 NIV – “Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

Regardless of your past sins or who you were before you walked with Christ, God is able to take all your mistakes and bad decisions and work through you to cause miracles to happen.  Not only was her and her household spared when Israel came to attack, but if you look at the genealogy or the family tree of Jesus, you will find Rahab’s name there. 

David & Bathsheba – Committed Adultery with David but gave birth to Solomon who rebuilt the temple.

Most of us know the story of David and Bathsheba.  It goes from bad to worse but then God is able to redeem the situation and Solomon comes out of it.  He was the one who was responsible for rebuilding the temple and known as the wisest king.

David and Bathsheba were both married and both cheated.  When David found out that she was pregnant he tried to get Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) to take time away from the battle to be with his wife and trick him into thinking that it was his child… But that didn’t work… Then  he ordered Uriah to be put into the most dangerous part of the battle, where he died.  Then David took Bathsheba as his wife.  The truth came out, and the child died shortly after being born.  David repented and then they had four more children starting with Solomon.

So what you can take away from this is, we try to be good Christians and follow God’s principles to love him and others.  From time to time we will fall.  When you sin, acknowledge your mistake and turn away from doing that again. God will bring you in and do wonderful things through you.

Paul – Paul, who was known as Saul before his conversion, was a Pharisee who persecuted Christians before becoming one. After his conversion he ended up writing most of the New Testament.

Acts 8:1-3 – And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Before meeting Christ, you could’ve been the one leading the charge to say Christianity is foolish or God is not real, But know that you know Christ, know that He is able to work through you to do some powerful things that can change history and impact billions of lives like Apostle Paul.

Gideon – Gideon suffered from a poor self image.  After God told him that He will strengthen him and give him the victory, He still talked negatively about himself.

Judges 6:15-16. – The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you? “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Whoever you were in the past does not matter as much as who Gods sees you as in present and future. If you don’t think of yourself as what God sees then know that He will make you into that through his power.  Go in His strength to do His will.

Samson – Samson had a very strong weakness. He has a lustful spirit a womanizer and allowed that to cloud his judgement.  Yet, in his last moments he was still able to kill a lot of the enemy.

Judges 16:29-30 NIV – “Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

You may not struggle with lust like Samson but everyone has some weakness that they are dealing with.  The goal is to master it and not allow it to master you.  You can only do this through submitting to God every day and moment.  This is a sad situation because Samson was captured and died because he could not master his struggles.  Let this be a lesson to you all to master those areas that are destructive and cause you not to follow Gods will.

Peter – Was flaky at times and doubted Jesus rose from the dead, He also denied Christ three times after saying that he would never but then became one of the more powerful disciples throughout the New Testament.

Acts 3:6-7 – Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

Acts 5:14-16 – Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

Like Peter, we may waver in our faith at time.  Eventually, you will come to a point in your Christian life where you start to operate at a lever where God is able to so amazing things through you.  This is only possible if you stay the course, continue to grow and fellowship with God’s Word and devote yourself to prayer.