Swan Mom: October 2017

Most people who know me know that I like used things. I buy used furniture, used pots and pans, and used clothing. There are a number of sensible reasons for this, but part of my liking for these things is something less tangible – a feeling of comfortable safety with something that has been much-used and maybe much-loved.

This morning I was struck when a phrase from the beautiful song, “More Holiness Give Me,” popped into my head. The hymn is essentially a plea from a humble seeker, asking God to “make me better.” The line that moved me was this one:

More used would I be . . .

Maybe one reason this caught my attention is that in the world we live in, “being used” is not often considered a positive thing.We protest "You're just using me!" So asking to be “more used” seems odd.

But used does not have to mean exploited or manipulated. Some synonyms for the word "use" are happy, positive words – worth, advantage, and benefit, for example.

When God uses people, He uses them for good. And He uses all kinds of people:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world

to confound the wise;

and God hath chosen the weak things of the world

to confound the things which are mighty . . .

(1 Corinthians 1:27)

O O O O O

A few years ago, my sister Erin traveled to Africa to participate in humanitarian service work. Some of her time there she spent working with a woman in Zambia who, in addition to her own children, took care of about twenty-five orphans, in her remote, run-down home.

As Erin tells it: I spent a few days there helping fix up her house, and she was always busy. One day after she made dinner, I noticed she had slipped her shoes off. When I saw this shoe it I was hit with the idea of wearing your life out with service, and being someone who God can use as he needs to, even though the work may be hard.

Our choice to offer ourselves up to be "more used" is a gesture that requires courage, humility, and faith.

Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God
ye are called to the work . . .
(D&C 4:3)

If you have the courage to ask to be more used, you'd better get ready.

And Joshua said unto the people,

Sanctify yourselves:
for tomorrow

the Lord will do wonders among you.

(Joshua 3:5)

. . . Wherever and whenever you read the word of God, with humble and real intent to remember the Savior, you will increase your desire to take His name upon you in your daily life. That desire will change the way you serve in the Lord’s Church. You will pray to Heavenly Father for help in magnifying even what appears to you to be a small calling. The help you will ask for is the ability to forget yourself and focus more on what the Savior wants for those you are called to serve.

(President Henry B. Eyring, October 2017 Ensign)

This is true for parents, for missionaries, for neighbors, for Stake Presidents, and for Visiting Teachers. It can be true for all of us.

\ \ \ \ \ \

The Savior, our great exemplar, set the standard from the beginning. It is He that we emulate when we ask the Lord to use us as He will.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
Whom shall I send,
and who will go for us?
Then I said: Here am I; send me.
(2 Nephi 16:8)

He stepped forth and offered Himself to be used. And He was used. He was misused. He was abused. He was, indeed, worn out in His service.

But He was made new again. And because of Him, we will be, too.