Quote from me: “You cannot mess up your life, nor can anyone else, to the point that God cannot use you for His glory.” I believe that whole heartedly because of Scripture, observation, and personal experience.  Now let me explain…

To say that God “cannot” contradicts His sovereignty.  The only things God cannot do are those things which are inconsistent with His nature.  Those are things such as lying, changing, or sin.  Past a very few things, there is nothing God cannot do… which includes his ability to use people who make mistakes and blunders for His glory.  In fact, there are times that God uses people because of their mistakes to bring glory to Him.  One example is Peter after he denied Christ.  It was because Peter failed that he was uniquely qualified to lead the early church (John 21:15).  But now back to the point…

This does not mean that when mistakes are made that there are no consequences.  We come under conviction from the Holy Spirit and there is fallout for our mistakes.  But that does NOT mean that our failures sideline us forever from participation with God in glorifying His name.

David suffered for murder and adultery.  But God continued to use him to glorify His name (He wrote Psalm 51 that has encouraged many people since his failure.).

Peter suffered for denying Christ by being broken in spirit and doubting himself.  But God used Peter to deliver the message at Pentecost.  Neither one’s failure kept God from using them for His glory in the future!

Paul was thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel.  The governing authorities attempted to silence him by taking away his platform to preach Christ crucified.  But as a result many were encouraged in their faith and a good number became believers who otherwise would never have heard the Gospel (Philippians 1:12-14).  Their attempt to “mess up” Paul’s life failed!

Then Paul was opposed by people who professed to be believers.  They attempted end Paul’s ministry in order to further their own power, influence, and following.  The only problem is that Paul saw that as a good thing because the Gospel was being proclaimed (Philippians 1:13-19).  Their attempt to “mess up” Paul’s life failed.

Here is the point.  God is sovereign.  God is in control.  There is no person He cannot save and use for His glory.  And I’m thankful for that truth!  Otherwise I would be sidelined.  I would not be usable.  I would not be able to participate with God in glorifying His name!  By the same token, no one else can mess your life up either.  No matter how hard they try, God is greater than any adversary you may have.

Consider your life.  You have failed and made mistakes.  But that does not prohibit God from using you for His glory.  God IS greater than our sin.  God is greater than our failures.  God can and use anyone He so chooses to bring glory to Himself.  And that most certainly means you!

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lie ahead.  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13b-14).