There is a common misconception in life, and in Christianity, that once you’ve made certain mistakes you’re kind of done for. Everyone fails, and when you’re trying to live a life like Christ has called us to, when we fail it seems that much worse. We can easily get sucked into a mindset that we’ve failed too much, and no one will ever listen to us now, or believe us. But I’ll have you know that you can never fall too far that God can’t use you for something amazing if you’ll just let him. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to face a few consequences though. So, I’m here to remind you of some people who made some pretty big mistakes, but God still used in mighty ways.

David was a mighty warrior and a king, but he was also a musician, a poet and apparently quite handsome. On one occasion (2 Samuel 11) while his army was off fighting he stayed back home, and got into quite a lot of trouble. He saw a woman bathing on the roof and decided he had to have her. This wasn’t just an ordinary woman, this was Bathsheba. Not only was she the wife of one of David’s warriors who was off at battle, but she was the daughter of one of his advisers. Well, David and Bathsheba’s affair resulted in her becoming pregnant. Naturally, David panicked. But instead of doing the right thing and admitting his mistake he decided he would try to cover it. He did everything in his power to try and not have to admit to his mistake, and when that didn’t work, he purposely sent Uriah, (Bathsheba’s husband) straight to the front lines so that he would be killed. He then took Bathsheba as his wife. David didn’t plan on repenting for his sins, until the prophet Nathan came and told him how God really felt about everything he had done. Immediately David realized his wrongs, but that didn’t change the fact that there would be consequences for his actions. But even still, God was merciful. And through this mistake that David had made God let Solomon be born from Bathsheba. Solomon not only made Israel prosperous, he also built a temple for God, and was known as the wisest man to have ever lived. And from the lineage of David came Jesus Christ.

So, a lot of people only think of the apostle Paul, as well, the apostle Paul. He was a mighty man of God, who wrote a lot of books in the New Testament, and won many souls for the Kingdom of God. What a lot of people don’t remember, is that before Paul became a Christian, he was basically the ISIS of bible times. At the time, his name was Saul, and he literally hated Christians. The bible goes so far to say that the breath he uttered was filled with murder. He wanted every Christian to be wiped out, and he didn’t care if it was man, woman or child. He just wanted them gone. Luckily, Saul had an encounter with God, and his life was radically changed, (and also his name). People were a little skeptical, naturally, and actually plotted to kill him. But he managed to get away, and also lead many people to Christ. You can read about his conversion in Acts chapter 9.

Now, I know these examples are kind of intense, the mistakes that we make everyday that make us feel that we aren’t worthy of the love God wants us to receive from Him and the calling we have on our lives are probably not anywhere close to the mistakes that David and Paul made. And yet still, they are two of the greatest men in the bible, who loved and served God with all they had. The bible even says that David was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) It’s kind of hard to comprehend, isn’t it?

There were others in the bible who God used despite their mistakes/doubts, and by “others” I mean pretty much everyone.

There was this guy named Moses, you may remember him as the guy God used to help bring the Israelites out of captivity, (or these little things known as the 10 commandments). Well he had a fear of public speaking, (Exodus 4:10) and he had to get his brother, Aaron, to speak for him. Yet, God still used him because of he knew Moses’ heart. The bible says he was the meekest (in other words, humble) man to ever walk the earth. (Numbers 12:3)

Also, there was a woman by the name of Sarah, who was unable to have children. When she was in her 90’s angels appeared to her husband, and she overheard them telling him that she was going to have a son. Sarah literally laughed at this prospect. And honestly, if I was her, I probably would’ve too. And when confronted she lied about it, because she was scared. But even with her doubts, God did as he said, and a year later Isaac was born. And from their lineage Jesus Christ was born.

There are countless people in the bible who made some big mistakes but God still used them. Because God looks at the condition of your heart, and He knows every motive we have. So, don’t think for one second God won’t use you because of what you’ve done or what you struggle with. Keep your heart and your eyes on Him, continually striving to be what He has called you to be and I promise you that He will use you, despite your shortcomings. In fact us mistake makers are God’s favorite people to use, here’s a scripture written by Paul about it:

“‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)