The morning of December 4, 1982, moments after his birth, Nick Vujicic was laid in his mother’s arms. She held a blunt torso. Her firstborn had no arms. No legs. No limbs. Just this one twisted flap of flesh. She swaddled him close and prayed. He lived and he thrived. Doctors never knew why Nick was born without limbs. Today Nick is a living miracle, a living testimony to God’s power being perfected through human weakness. Nick combs his hair, brushes his teeth, jets around the world on speaking tours inspiring thousands and, astonishingly, even swims.

But it’s his words that inspire all who listen to him. “People are touched just by my smile,” he quips. “It’s important to be open to the ways God wants to use us.”

Often we’re not. We think we need to be someone else. But, that’s a big mistake. Everyone else is taken. Nick is just himself and God uses him just the way he is.

Some people think they need a certain talent, a certain skill, a certain kind of work to show off God’s glory. They think it’s about the gifts in them that matter and not Christ who should shine through their gifts. Nick understands this. He understands that God uses people like himself to minister, not out of strength, but out of real weakness. And, isn’t that how the Son of God Himself ministered to the world.

Nick, a man with no biceps and no thighs can use his teeth to get himself a glass of water, type on his keyboard, and share his story of hope with thousands of hurting people.
So it should be with us too. God gives each individual singular gifts, but those gifts can only be poured out onto the world through the cracks in our lives. Why do you think you need to be in a better place, spiritually, geographically, financially or professionally before God can use you? It’s right now, out of your own brokenness in this place and time that God’s grace seeps out of you and into the world.

It is surely a paradox that God gives us gifts, and we offer them, whatever they are (our talents, our work, our minds) back to Him. These gestures are the very way God Himself meets the needs of others in our community. In our everyday common work, doing that which may not seem important, we bring Christ to those we serve through our own weakness. Nick discovered this secret: the power of God working through his brokenness.

You don’t have to do anything extraordinary. It may be an encouraging word to a colleague, a hearty handshake when meeting a neighbor. It may be a project well done at work, a warm tone of voice when answering the phone, a simple expression of gratitude in an email.

God has a plan and it’s His, not ours. We may be very receptive to God using us in the ways we imagine He should use us, but are we open to the ways God really wants to use us? God has a unique vision for each of us, just as He had for Nick. It involves using us the way we are and where we are today, and doing what we do through Him. If you’re not willing to serve God by being who you are, in this or that work, in this or that brokenness, how can you serve Him?

Nick found the answer to that question.

Footnote: Nick Vujicic is of Serbian-Australian origin. He is a living miracle for people today. He delivers motivational speeches, as a Christian evangelist, around the world focusing on human disability and on finding hope and meaning in any circumstance. He is an example of what God can do through us when we let Him use us as we really are.