Can God Use a Sinner for His Purposes? 

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” –  Hebrews 11:8

When God started His rescue mission for the world, He didn’t pick a priest, king, or hero—He picked a nobody. Abram wasn’t famous, righteous, or qualified. He was just another man from a pagan family, living in a godless land. But that’s how grace works. God doesn’t call the qualified—He qualifies the called. And when God called Abram, everything changed—not just for him, but for the world.

Scripture gives us little about Abram’s background before his calling—only a genealogy, a barren wife, and a temporary stop in Haran after being born in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:27-32). What we do know is telling: Joshua 24:2 reveals that Abram’s father “served other gods.” Yet, in the middle of that idol-worshiping environment, God stepped in and chose Abram by grace.

God told him to leave everything familiar and walk into the unknown. Though his wife was barren and his future uncertain, God promised that Abram would be the father of a great nation, blessed by God and destined to bless every nation through one of his descendants. This ties back to the original promise in Genesis 3:15: the “seed” who would crush the serpent—Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:16 confirms this: “The promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring… referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.”

Through the line of Abraham would come Jesus Christ. But this promise came with a call to leave the past, follow God in faith, and inherit the land. (Genesis 12:7-8, 13:18)At 75 years old, Abram believed and obeyed. And every time God showed up, Abram built an altar and worshiped (Genesis 13:18, 22:9). His life became a pattern of faith in action.

Abram’s story proves that faith begins where comfort ends. God called him to leave the familiar and trust the impossible. And when Abram said yes, a nation was born, a promise was set in motion, and the Savior of the world entered history. If God can use an old man with a barren wife and a broken past to change the world, He can use anyone.

Has God ever called you to a new place, whether it be a job, ministry calling, or even moving to a new state or country?

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