Before God Uses You Mightily

Mark 8:6

And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.

Many people say they want to be used mightily by God, but very few are willing to pay the price. When Jesus faced the crowd of four thousand who were hungry, He asked how many loaves they had so He could feed the multitude. The disciples answered that they only had seven loaves. Oh, these seven loaves seemed so little compared to the thousands of people who needed to be fed. However, the seven loaves in the hands of Christ could have fed the whole world if that was what Christ needed to do. The fewness of the loaves was not a problem for the power of Christ to do the miraculous. Christ performed the miraculous with the seven loaves and fed the four thousand, but several keys were present before God used those seven loaves to feed the thousands.

First, there was the impossibility that man faced. The disciples had no way to feed the four thousand in their own power; in their power it was impossible. God cannot use you mightily until you come to the end of your abilities to see that you need God. God has never used one person mightily who had confidence in their abilities. God has only used those who realized their ability to do is only found in Christ. There needs to be a helplessness on your part that brings you to the impossible realization that you cannot do anything without Christ. God looks for those who know they need Him before something miraculous will happen through their lives.

Second, there was obedience before the miraculous. Jesus commanded the crowd to sit down, and they did. God never uses the disobedient miraculously. Every person God has mightily used was obedient to a fault. God cannot trust you to show His power through your life if you won't be obedient to all He tells you to do. Stop looking for God to do great things through you and start obeying Him. God looks for obedience before He looks to do the miraculous through an individual. Obedience proves to God that He can trust you with His power working through you. God will not invest His power in any person that He cannot trust.

Third, God often must break a person before He does the miraculous through their lives. Jesus had to break the seven loaves before feeding the four thousand. People often say they want God to use them mightily, but there is always a dear price one must pay before God does the miraculous through one’s life. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before God used him mightily. David ran in exile alone before God used him mightily. Peter had to be broken and brought to nothing before God could use him on the day of Pentecost. Samson was broken and grinding at the mill before God did His greatest work in his life. H.G. Spafford lost all four of his daughters before God gave him the song, It Is Well With My Soul. Charles Weigle’s wife left him before God used him to write the great song, No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.

Do you really want God to use you mightily? My friend, there is a dear price you will pay for that to happen. However, God will use you if you will pay that price and prove to Him that though He slay you, you will trust in Him. The price you must pay to be used mightily by God will pale in comparison to knowing that God has His hand on your life.