Another Reponse

Here Megan posts another great thought, and I can't contain my thoughts to just the comment box. Relating the idea of being used by God through brokenness, look at Matthew ch 1, the family line that resulted in the birth of Christ.

Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, v2-3

Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab v 5

You see that? You see that in the list, God makes a special point through Matthew to make subtle additions? Most of the list is the father and the son, but here we see the addition of the name of the mother involved.....why do you think that is? Who are Tamar and Rahab? Well, Tamar was the wife of two of Judah's sons, who would not have a child with her.....so she dressed herself up in a certain way, and bore a child with Judah, without him knowing until later. Rahab, we know from the story of the destruction of Jericho, was a prostitute who aided the spies in their plan to capture the city. Why would Matthew point out these two as examples? He doesn't stop there.

and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, v 6

This is the icing on the cake here. We know the story of David, walking around on the roof of his palace, spying a bathing Bathsheba. Having her brought to him, committing sin with her. David doesn't stop there, he goes steps further, and has her husband, Uriah, killed to cover his sins. Its telling that Matthew doesn't even use Bathsheba's name, but points out the name of her murdered husband. Instead of burying these stories, just listing the father and son relationship, Matthew brings attention to them, putting them out there to be discussed, examined. God is showing us that when He gets hold of you, it doesn't matter who you were, it doesn't matter what you've done, He can make glorious things happen with you. No matter what skeletons you have in your closet, you give your life to Him, He will make it beautiful. He will be so strong in your weakness, and we can give Him glory for redeeming even our most terrible parts.

God is amazing, and is not afraid to tackle what you think is devastating. God is not afraid of your mistakes, He is desiring to remove them from you, so that He can use you in ways that you can't even begin to believe. Its your backstory, full of sin, that makes you most able to witness the grace of our Father.