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May 15, 2019

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Broken Vessels Mightily Used of God

"I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark." Job 16:12

When we spend time in the "quietness of His presence," God reveals Himself to us in the most revealing ways. The more we see Him in all that HE IS, the more we see our need to be emptied of all we are, so He may live through us and be all He wants us to be.

Isaiah had this experience when he had a vision of the glory and majesty of God. He cries out, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5). This seems to be the experience of all of the men God greatly used for His glory. They needed to see themselves in the light of the majesty of God and be "broken by God" before God could use them.

Job said, "I was at ease, but he hath broken me." God permitted Satan to attack Job at every point in his life, except to take his life. Satan was determined to prove that Job only followed God because He had been gracious unto him. Take all these things away and "he will curse you to your face."

It's interesting to notice that Job says, "I was at ease." Surely, after all of his suffering and loss, when he says, "but now mine eyes have seen you," he realized more than ever how he had been "at ease." What took place happened between the time Satan was permitted by God to attack this upright man and the time when he says, "but now mine eyes have seen you." There were times when he was "utterly broken." We read that "he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces." As his faith was steadfastly fixed on God, his eyes now saw God in an "entirely new dimension." The majesty of God had penetrated his heart, and he said, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." God permitted Job to be broken of "everything that hindered him from seeing God." God must have "broken" vessels.

J. Hudson Taylor returned to England from China "broken in health." No one ventured to say he would return. But return he did in the might of God and with a perseverance of faith and passion for the lost in China. During the next 40 years the China Inland Mission was founded and, under the blessing of God, ministered beyond all human comprehension, through prayer and faith. It was a faith mission with over 1,000 missionaries.

C. T. Studd returned as a missionary from China "broken in health," only to volunteer to be a missionary to Africa when every doctor told him he would die before he would get there. He "dared to believe" that God was able to meet his needs. He founded the Heart of Africa Mission, and had seventeen glorious years of fruitful ministry there.

The Auca Indians in Ecuador martyred Jim Elliot and four other missionaries as they sought to plant the seeds of the Gospel with tribesmen who had never encountered the white man. God uses "broken vessels" that are "possessed and empowered" by Him for His glory. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25).

© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.


This page was reprinted by permission from: http://www.litmin.org/dare.php?date=2019-05-15


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