Do A Mighty Work, Lord

Do a mighty work in me, Lord, so you can do a mighty work through me.

I will never forget falling to my knees and praying that very prayer. I’ll be honest. My pride prevented me from seeing how much work God needed to do in me before He could work through me. I was at the lowest point of my life, walking through an unwanted divorce, struggling with the pain of adultery. I knew I didn’t want my pain to be in vain, but I really couldn’t imagine how much He needed to transform me so I could be used by Him.

Over the course of the next few years, I participated as my Father pruned so many things from my life, as I learned what it was to be truly dependent on Him. He broke my pride. He provided for my every need in the sweetest ways. He made my heart tender and responsive to Him.

These words pierced the depths of my soul:

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, completely dependent on God to meet their every need. Just as God provided manna on a daily basis, ensuring that His people didn’t go hungry (Exodus 16). Just as God sent a quail-storm to meet the Israelites’ appetite for meat (Exodus 16). Just as God showed them how fickle their hearts were, how easily they were led astray.

Just as the Israelites, so was I. I was trapped in the wilderness of divorce, surrounded by pain on every side. And yet, God in His tender mercies, provided for my daily needs. God performed absolute miracles to provide, from a place to live to money to pay for my daughter’s braces. But even more important, God showed me the true condition of my heart. He showed me how I was blinded by my own pride, how easy it was for me to be led astray despite His faithfulness.

He truly did a mighty work in me.

Here I am some 14 years later. The memories of God’s faithfulness is still so strong. As I look back on that period in my life, I can’t stop the smile the creeps across my face as I remember how good He was to me, how precious His sweet voice and His tender mercies.

Sadly, just like the Israelites, I’ve been through periods in my life where I’ve found myself doubting God, in spite of His history of faithfulness. I used to scoff at them, how God would provide some mighty miracle, only to turn the page and find the Israelites grumbling on the next page. Now I realize I am just like them.

And so I stand on the edge of a new year, and I find myself praying that familiar prayer:

Lord, do a mighty work in me so you can do a mighty work through me. 

Maybe there is some growth in the last 14 years as I no longer doubt that there’s room for God to change me, to do a mighty work in me. I know He wants every part of my heart and life. I know it’s too easy to get swept up in the busyness of life and neglect my relationship with Him. I know there’s idolatry in my heart as I look to money as my security rather than Him. I see that I need Him.

Maybe one difference today is that I truly believe He wants to change me, He wants to do a mighty work in me and through me. I have an overwhelming sense that my ordinary step of obedience might be the very thing God uses to usher in an extraordinary act of God. Maybe I’ve reached the place where I get to start reaping what I have sown.

No matter what, I sense God moving in a mighty way. I sense His presence guiding me back to my foundation. I sense God is going to pour out His power and His presence in ways I never imagined possible.

I am waiting to see the mighty works God is about to do!