God Doesn't Want To 'Use' You

This message was written by my friend Joel Adifon. To see the original message go here. 


The phrase 'used by God' while now commonplace in the Church and Christian circles, can often be misleading.

Many people want to be used by God in ministry or to 'do His work'. Many people are still stuck under this performance mindset in which God is seen as a taskmaster they are trying to please and if they just work hard enough or do enough or be enough, they'll earn the privilege of having Him do mighty works through them.

This desire to have God work mightily in someone's life is not prideful or sinful. It is perfectly natural. It is in fact, intrinsic to our humanness, a deep longing that God Himself has placed deep within the heart of every man and woman.

This transcendent human inclination to co-labor with one larger than ourselves goes all the way back the Eden. We, like Adam, are created to participate in God's creation, to be an integral part of what He desires to be done on the earth. But without a proper understanding of sonship, this desire to serve and work with the Creator will ultimately become warped and twisted until our identity becomes attached to our work.

Our success or lack thereof will become our measuring stick in where we feel we stand with the Father. The truth is, God does not want pawns to move around on a board. The Father wants sons and daughters to whom He can entrust the deep desires of His own heart.

Jesus wants a family of brothers and sisters with whom He can freely share His emotions. Ministry and service flow from a place of allowing one's self to be loved by God, in spite of the visible flaws or inadequacies one might see.

Let God love you for who you are and be free to be yourself before Him. As a result, you will find yourself loving people for who they are and give them freedom to be themselves before you. When this happens,

You will heal the sick because you love people and want to see them loosed from the bonds of infirmity.

You will prophesy because you love people and want to see them released into their destiny by the words of their Father.

You will raise the dead because you love people and want to see them set free from the pain that the loss of a loved one brings.

 Let God love you as you are and you won't simply be a vessel to be used for His glory, you will be a son, an heir, partnering with Him to bring freedom to a broken world.