Have you ever had the experience of something happening to you, and you just couldn’t offer any human explanation for it?  I love hearing and reading about these types of things.  I love experiencing them in my own life and sometimes I refer to them as “God winks”, but at other times, these experiences in life work out in such a way that I know it was a miracle, something only God himself could make possible.

Use Me, Lord by Helena Ohmen is a book I recently had the pleasure of reading.  Her book is a collection of stories based on her own personal experiences, and she tells them so well.  She has such a distinct writing style that makes you feel as if you were sitting right across from her, taking in her stories in person.  In each story she tells, one thing is for certain, and that is that she follows the will of God wherever it takes her.  I admire that so much in a person.  How often have you felt the Lord telling you to do something, but you make excuses (Jonah, anyone?) and try to go about your life doing your own thing?  I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn’t work out so well.  One thing I have a hard time with is relinquishing control, but it’s something I’m working on daily.  I want to be able to say, “Use me, Lord”, too, and really mean it and follow through.

That’s one of the very reasons I found this book so inspiring.  It proved with every story she told that following the will of God always brings about the best intended outcome.  It may not be convenient or comfortable, but God never promised it would be so.  For instance, if you heard the Lord telling you to pick up house and home and move your family thousands of miles away from everything you were familiar with, would you do it?  Ohmen did, and her life has been richly blessed for it.  Thankfully, she has shared with the world her experiences with leading others to the Lord, the power of prayer, and the amazing miracles God is performing everyday.

Use Me Lord has inspired me to intentionally spend time in prayer everyday, to really be still and listen to the Lord, and to be brave enough to do what He asks of me.  Being still and quieting my mind is very difficult for me, but I can’t tell you how much better my day goes when I’ve started it off in prayer.  Hearing the voice of God is also sometimes difficult for me, so I’m learning to listen more carefully.  I’m not perfect and I know without a doubt I will always make mistakes, but I am so thankful my God is a loving and forgiving God.

I would really encourage any of you reading this who want a deeper walk in your faith to get a copy of Use Me, Lord.  It will make you want to aspire to the kind of close relationship that the author shares with God and to look for the extraordinary in the everyday ordinary.