Not Used but Usable (3 Steps)

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age..." Luke 3:23

"The artisan who would do his work well must first sharpen his tools." Confucius

"Lord use me!" people pray. But how often must our Father respond, "What is there to use?!" Hudson Taylor wisely prayed not that he would be used but that he would be made usable. It was not just a pious turn of phrase but immensely logical and practical. To be used, we must first 1) prepare, 2) be in the right place, and 3) learn to wait for His timing.

I was dismayed when the U.S. Air Force sent me to Taiwan in 1976; the Cultural Revolution was just ending, and I knew nothing about China and had no interest in it. But I fell in love with Taiwan and decided to go to Mainland China--and every door was not only closed but barricaded. I did not make it to China until 1988--and a good thing, too. Had I come ten years earlier, neither I nor China would have been ready.

1. Are we usable? Even Jesus did not just rush right out of the manger to work. He grew up first, and waited until he was 30. This gave him more credibility with those he'd teach, but also enabled him to get some experience, and judging from his use of scriptures in his sermons, he had a good education as well.

When I wanted to come to China in 1978, I was young, inexperienced, and had nothing useful to offer. So after the Air Force I finished college, started a business to pay for school bills (and marriage!), and in 1988 the door to China opened and we were literally thrown through it (see "How I Got Here"). But by then I was older, had practical business and people experience, and most importantly, had Susan Marie, my blond, blue-eyed "made-in-Taiwan" wife (Read "China--our Matchmaker" to see how we met).

I regret that only in the last five years or so have I fully realized how incomplete I would have been without Susan Marie. Her temperament, inclinations and gifts are very different from mine, and sometimes drive me up the wall. But those very traits are what make her so valuable in China--and help balance me (I may not appear balanced but I'd be a lot worse off without her).

2. Right place? My first goal was Australia. I even filled out all the emigration forms. The Australian Embassy kindly replied that they welcomed me but to reapply in ten years because the minimum age was 18 and I was only eight. At least they were kind enough to send me a nice stack of children's books about Australia (I still remember the poem, "Now you can draw a kangaroo, a wombat and a black swan too...").

When I was nine I decided on Africa after seeing an ad for the Marion Fathers (I did not know yet that I was not Catholic). And in high school my dream was to help the poor in Latin America. And so of course I ended up in China--the one place I had no interest in. I still remember the Air Force orientation on China. They said that 1 in 4 people were Chinese and I said "Nonsense. Our family has 4 people and none of us are Chinese."

I'd have never chosen China, but with the greatest population, it had the greatest needs, and opportunities, and now I can't imagine serving anywhere else--especially after witnessing the country's great changes since we arrived in 1988. It was the right place--and also the right time...

3. Right time? 1978 would not have been a good time for either China or me. She was just starting her reforms and opening up, and things were still pretty chaotic. Even when we came in 1988, right after finishing my business degree, we were told that only English teachers could be Foreign Experts. But, providentially, we were led quite clearly (read "A Sign from the Heavens") right to Xiamen, and after we got here we learned that XMU was just starting an MBA program, and their one foreign teacher had to leave mid-year for a family issue. They knocked on my door, asked, "Will you teach MBA?", I said, "Let me think about it", and after thinking a second or two I said, "Yes!" MBA was not popular then, but we awarded China's first MBA degrees, and today it's the hottest thing going.

I could have never planned the preparation, place or timing any better than my Father did.

Want to be used? First ask to be made usable. Of course, F.B.Meyer was write when he wrote, "Surely more work is done by a blunt edge and divine power, than by a sharp edge and little power" (1894). But how much better to allow our Father's divine power to work through a sharp edge! As Confucius said, "The artisan who would do his work well must first sharpen his tools."

Divine Power. Sharp Edge Before asking to be used, ask to be made usable. Allow our Father to sharpen you a bit on the world, which is His whetstone for us, and then use you in the right place and the right time.

Related Links:
Blunt Axes and Whetstones:
http://ourdailynoodles.blogspot.com/2008/10/blunt-axes-and-whetstones.html

Arrogant Axes:
http://ourdailynoodles.blogspot.com/2008/10/arrogant-axe.html

How I Got Here (English):
http://offthewallchina.blogspot.com/2009/02/sign-from-heavens-how-i-got-here.html

How I Got Here (Chinese):
http://offthewallchina.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html

China-our Matchmaker (English):
http://www.amoymagic.com/matchmaker.htm

China--our Matchmaker (Chinese):
http://offthewallchina.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post_20.html

www.amoymagic.com