The Rag

Sharon JaynesA Sudden Glory, Living Fully 96 Comments

Today’s blog is short and sweet. Oh so sweet.

Last weekend I spoke in Palmer, Iowa, surrounded by wheat fields, cornfields, and soybean fields.

Combines worked through the night.

Lights beaming.
Engines roaring.
Men working.
Bringing in the last of the late harvest.

On Saturday, we experienced a harvest of a different kind.

Hearts.
Souls.
Lives.

I stayed in a little hotel in Pocahontas, right down the road a piece.

By the sink in my room, God preached a sermon as loud and clear as any I’ve ever heard. It was on a little note lying on an old scruffy blue washcloth.

The sermon sat folded neatly by the sink with the following note atop.

I’m nothing but a rag.
I am old, tattered and torn, but clean.
WAIT!
I can still be put to work.
I can still be used to
clean your shoes
remove your makeup
clean your car.

I am worn, but clean.
Ready to be used in place of a fluffy white towel.
When I’m grimy and beyond your use,
throw me on the floor to be cleaned and used again.
Thank you,
THE RAG

Yes, Lord, I prayed. I am the rag. I feel worn and tattered, but clean. Use me, Lord, even though there are newer fluffier options all around. I can still be used for something. And when I’m grimy, nappy, worn, and torn, cleanse me and use me again. Amen.

If that is your prayer today, to be used, cleansed, and used again, leave a comment as your prayer to say, “Use me Lord.”

I know He will.

It’s moments like these, when God speaks to me through something as simple as an old rag, that I call a sudden glory. God is speaking to you…everyday…and He wants you to recognize His voice and experience His presence. That is what the book A Sudden Glory is all about…experiencing God’s lavish response to your ache for something more. It also includes a study guide for those who want to go deeper.

 

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Comments 96

  3. Ragged, torn, worn out and tired –
    There was even that time I was fired!
    Retired, often ill and overwrought –
    thankfully, it was You I sought!
    Use what little of me is left, Lord.
    Wield me as You would a sword.
    I will rejoice in the joyous ability
    to raise my voice within this city.
    Ragged, torn, worn out and tired –
    but, wonderfully,
    thru Your love…rewired!

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  6. Use me Lord.
    Please and Thank You!
    This was beautiful. We are so often quick to discard things that are not perfect. This was a great reminder that just because something doesn’t look “new” doesn’t mean it’s not useful. Blessings!

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  17. Thank you for the reminder. I was married at 19. Had a premature baby at 22. Divorced at 24. Remarried at 26, had 2 more boys. Widowed at 30. Remarried at 34. Brian and I were spirit mates and best friends. We served God together for 12 years (1 year befor we got married). I was widowed again January 12, 2016 on my 45 birthday. God has carried me a lot of the time. I’m trying to wait patiently for God to use me again. Psalms 31:24 keeps coming to mind. I know God has a purpose for my pain and he will use it. I just need him to finish healing my heart. Thanks 🤗

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    1. Praying for you, Cathy. I am sorry for your losses. Thank you for sharing. May you know the presence and peace of our loving heavenly Father during these different times. May you be strengthened in your inner man to cling to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here are a couple verses I like: Psalm 63:7-8 (AMP) “For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. 8″ My whole being follows hard after You and clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Praise Him, Praise Him. Love, hugs and prayers, Because of Jesus, Cindy

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  21. Use me Lord!! In a time where I feel unsure of what will happen next, God keeps reassuring me that He has it, He has me. I am just a rag but willing to follow in His plan, I love Him for always being there even when I waver of His glorious plan.

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  24. We had a Sudden Glory and an answer to prayer a week ago on Sunday morning. We stop at a small cafe before church as we go early for an hour of prayer. We had been praying about a new primary care physician since our other doctor is not taking our insurance anymore. The cafe was crowded with no seats available and a sweet couple sitting at a 6 person table invited us to sit with them. In conversation we mentioned our need for a new PCP. The man recommended his doctor giving us name and number. We were so thankful. On Monday we stopped by the office, they were taking new patients and they did take our insurance. We confirmed all with our insurance and received an appointment from the doctor’s office for Wednesday. After 2 hours visiting with our new doctor and staff, we are so blessed to have a new PCP. We know the Lord provided for us. Yes, we want to always be as that rag, used by the Lord for His purposes and plans no matter how worn we are. He is our strength and courage. He leads us into divine opportunities and He answers our prayers. We had the privilege to pray with these folks over our meal and share testimony and witness of Father’s provision for we saw them again this week, same time and same table.

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  28. This is, and has been my prayer for many years. He does us us. Not in ways we might have envisioned in past years. But in the here and there ways if acts of kindness, kind words, and in the doing if jobs others would consider inconsequential.
    This is my calling. I’ve come to fit into it over the years. Is it the grandiose plan I had for “MY MINISTRY”? No, but it’s His plan, His purpose. So early each morning I ask Him for His plan for the day, for His guidance and for His light to shine into the lives into which He sends me. And He always comes through.

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  29. Love this!
    Also, I absolutely love Sudden Glory and am using it for our church’s next Women’s Bible Study in January!
    God is working mightily through you, Sharon!

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  30. I had to leave my job of almost 20 years as a special ed assistant last fall due to not being able to physically keep up. I had major surgery and am recovering still. I have been feeling useless to anyone recently… PLEASE USE ME LORD!!!

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  35. Please use me, Lord! Help me to clean up my messes & mistakes. Guide me to where someone is working hard and help me show them how they shine with your glorious light!

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  36. Good Morning Sharon,
    I recently came across one of your devotionals and was inspired. You have a unique way of touching the heart and the mind of your readers. I am grateful, thank you. I’ve shared with my 2 daughters and daughter-in-law some of the “stories” you have written and how no matter what the topic we can relate and the message Gods is telling us through you is awesome and inspirational.

    Thank you again for the beautiful gift of YOU that you so willingly share with others,

    May you have a blessed day feeling God’s love surrounding you

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  42. Sharon, we were all so blessed by your ministry on Saturday. Lives healed, hope found, POWERFUL! I pray that the Lord will continue to use me to reach out and bring people to Him and His Glory.

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  44. Thank You, Lord, for this lesson and for Sharon’s love in sharing the poem The Rag! Yes, I am Your rag and because I am Your rag, I can be used by You as You will and I will not be glorified or just hung on a peg to be honored by others! Thank You, Father, for using me! I pray, in Jesus’ name, that I can be always used by You for Your glory only! Thank You and praise You for opening my eyes to see You in all things! Amen.

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  46. Yes, that is my prayer today and everyday, to be used and cleansed and used again! Love your devotions each and every day! They always speak a fresh word from the Good Word! No matter what my day is like or has been like, I can always turn to your devotions for inspiration and refreshing!

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  48. Use me Lord! Oh Sharon, how God continues to use you to help encourage women like me! I had a little health scare that required a hospital visit for a few days. Now, as I am home recovering and being impatient for my body to get back to normal again, I have been struggling with this healing process not happening quickly enough for me. God is speaking to me thru “the rag”….giving me hope that He will use me thru it all! Thank you!! ❤️

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  51. Use me Lord torn and ruff around the edges to be what ever you want not what I think is your way but YOUR WAY ONLY thanks for loving me

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  57. Use me up Lord and cleanse me and reuse me over and over and over again, Amen! Please pray for my family. We just put my 81 year old Daddy on hospice. He is in end stage Parkinson’s and recently had a frontal lobe stroke. Please pray that God will let him go peacefully and swiftly without suffering. Thank you, Amen.

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  58. Sharon, this touched my heart so deeply. Thanks for sharing. May I share it in an article I am doing for the January issue of Sophie Woman’s Magazine? Of course, I would give you the credit.

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  62. What a great reminder that I am am tired and worn but I still have gift to give 😍Made my day because I am tired friends !!

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  65. Use me Lord! I came upon this blog thru Girlfriends in God at the beginning of another day. I want to be used by God more. As I have given of myself in His service in the past, I want to continue even more to have Him use the gifts and talents He has given me.

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  72. Sharon…..
    Good morning…i just read “The Rag”…..thank you…that is me. I turned 70 last week and a month ago I became part of a small group for a new women’s ministry at my church….i want more younger women to be part of it as they will be the teachers of the following genefation….only one joined us….i am fighting sticking with it as I am getting burned out….feeling like I have done my part, done enough already….this article makes me feel guilty like I need to stay with it….i am not used up….i appreciate that but I also need prayers so I can make the right decision about this.
    I love Girlfriends in God and your blog….i am so glad I discovered you all.
    Sincerely
    Diana

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  75. I am so thankful he uses me. Lord please let me see myself through your eyes and not another’s. I am enough for you. You will take care of every situation in my life. I need not worry when others would slander me. I know my heart you got this. I will not hide but continue to pursue you. May my life worship you even more when I am worn. Sharon I am smiling right now because I will never complain about cleaning again. Every time I grab that old rag to dust, I will be thinking, Use me too LORD! Blessings!

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  80. Good morning Sharon at the age of 75 God is still using me to prepare a monthly women’s or breakfast which I enjoy doing very much I always feel inspired and joyful. But I do want to be used more by our Lord by our Lord in many more ways God is refining me again to do away with fear and doubt so my prayer is Use Me Lord use me thank you so much Sharon

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  82. I feel like the rag, tired. worn, old, so not useful, but that is not what God tells me, He CAN use me, if I obey His voice. Use me Lord, Use me!

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  83. A few weeks ago I was feeling useless. After praying for weeks, it came to God wanted me to volunteer at the hospital I had retired from 4 years ago. I missed my job as a nurse and I missed the patients. I began volunteering with pastoral services with the Chaplain. It has been a blessing to me and the patients I visit. My God is an awesome God. Thank you Sharon for your encouragement and for A Sudden Glory. You inspire me.

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