10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ” Eph. 6:10-18………..
You’re useless. Have you ever heard these words? I heard them for years. For decades. I didn’t stop hearing them. I still hear them. Oh, sure, in not so many words. Not those exact words. But the same message. Different words. Same message. That I was useless. That I am useless. That I might as well quit now. That I’ll never measure up, never be useful, never either have a purpose or fulfill my purpose now that I have one, and on and on. Does any of this sound familiar?
You may have heard the words from a parent, a spouse, a loved one, a friend, a boss, a coach, a teacher, from a stranger, from yourself after comparing yourself to others, but whatever and whomever the source of the words, and the message, the message that you’re useless, a failure, that you might as well quit trying because you’ll never make it, that you have no significance, or not much of one anyway, that you’re without value, etc., have you ever considered who is behind the message you’ve been hearing? The message you perhaps heard long ago, or still hear? That you’re useless?
The devil, the enemy, Satan, has a mission to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), and it seems one of his greatest goals is to convince people they’re useless and purposeless, that they’re failures and will never succeed, that they might as well give up now, that there’s no point to carrying on, that they have no significance.
Be careful, friend, if you’ve been believing that lie. God has a purpose for every single one of us. He created us to love and worship Him forever through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and believing Jesus died for us and was raised from the dead, through committing our lives to God and His ways. God’s primary purpose for us is to love Him with all our hearts and to love others, and beyond that primary purpose He desires we not only commit our lives to Jesus, but that we spread the hope of everlasting life through faith in Jesus to the world all around. Then, friend, He has an individual purpose for each of us that fits into the context of loving and worshiping Him forever, and always to be included in our life’s purpose is to tell others about Jesus and to help them find and follow Him.
We ALL have a purpose. God makes it utterly clear in His Word, and we must – MUST – must not believe the devil’s lie that we are useless.
The exact specific purpose God has for each of us individually in the context of loving and worshiping Him forever and sharing the Gospel and helping to build His Kingdom of followers varies from person to person. He may call one person to write and create art for Him and others, He may call another person to build houses in Africa for the poor, He may call one woman to be a Mom to a future preacher, He may call another person to mop floors in a hospital to help the sick, the details and specifics of God’s specific purpose for each of us is entirely in His hands. But the overall purpose, the primary purpose, always comes back to loving and worshiping and serving God through Christ forevermore.
Friend, to this very hour, the devil comes at me trying to convince me I’m useless, that my life is a failure, that my ministry work means nothing, that I might as well quit, that I’m no good to God or to anyone, and I daresay I am not alone in being a target for the devil and His heinous ploys.
Let us not believe the lies, friend. Let us believe the truth. God has commissioned each and every one of us with loving Him and others, with sharing the Gospel message, and with doing whatever it is He has set us on this earth to do in the context of loving Him and others and bringing glory to His most magnificent forever name.
Don’t believe the lies. Don’t believe you’re useless. If you are turned away from God, or have not yet committed your life to Christ, by all means, the starting place is to admit you’re a sinner, place your trust in Christ as Lord who died for you and was raised from the dead, turn away from a lifestyle of wrongdoing and turn to God, and be the man or woman of God He has created you to be, not useless, but useful, with a purpose, with the purpose He has created you to have, and to live, to live for Jesus, to live to bring God glory, all in Christ’s love, for the glory of God, yes, for the glory of God!
If you are already turned to God, but like myself face a barrage of artillery from Satan trying to convince you you’re useless, don’t believe the lies, get rid of them, and press on following Jesus, remembering we ALL have a purpose, to love and serve and bring glory to God forevermore! Amen!