You see, as a Christian, woe is the person who makes plans without asking God for wisdom at the start and all throughout the process. God, because he loves you and wants you to grow in your sanctification and in your understanding of him, is committed to giving people reality checks whenever they do anything in their own strength.
God should be in everything. You should start off everything (from menial to life-changing tasks) with the help of God. And it is not just some sort of magic spell that says if you say the right prayer before you do something, it will work. It is honoring your Lord and saying that you can do nothing without him. And doing that will start your mind in the right place.
But it is not just a one-time thing. No, relying on God for strength should be in every step of the process of accomplishing that which you set out to do. And, it is not just another rule to follow in the Christian life. I viewed it that way all of my life. “I have to ask God for help or else this won’t work.” The problem was that I did not see my own helplessness and dependence on God. And I did not know the joy of needing God. I knew in theory that I needed him, and I spoke like I believed that, but when push came to shove, I relied on myself. And look where that has gotten me: a whole lot of unfinished projects and failed efforts. Obviously, I can’t finish things in my own strength – I can’t even start them.
Which leads me to another interesting point: what if I start something fully relying on God, and the thing I try to do ends up failing? Well, that could mean one of two things: despite your faith and hard work, God had other plans; or because of your self-reliance and hard work, God had other plans. It is quite feasible that you could do your best and remain completely trusting God the whole time, but still not get what you were working for. We do not have the full picture, so we have to trust God’s will.
And the other option? Maybe you started off in God’s will – trusting him – but then fell off the tracks at some point. I cannot tell you how many times I
have done this. The Holy Spirit often convicts me of my loner mentality. If your goal did not come to fruition, maybe it was a wakeup call. Start trusting God and not yourself.
Oh, and there is another reason why you could start something with all the right motives and in all the right ways and still fail, and that is laziness. We do have a role to play in the accomplishing of tasks in this world. We are blessed with this responsibility, but in the end, God’s will will be the determining factor. Let’s put it this way: What God wants to happen will happen. What we do does not change God’s purposes. If something we set out to do fails, then it was not supposed to happen. But, that does not give us the right to sit back with our hands folded. That’s the lazy way out, and it does not bring glory to God (which is our main purpose anyway). God says we show our faith by what we do, and we should work with all our might for him. We cannot know the exact will of God – it is not our job. Our job is to do what God has commanded us in the Bible, and know that God will bring about the results he has forordained.
If we keep this in mind, we should feel no regret after the end of a goal or project, even if it “failed.” I am done making good intentions and failing in the most important thing of all – my ongoing relationship with God. I really do speak from experience – I cannot begin to express all of the times I have failed to reach my intended goals because of my laziness in my relationship with God. When you want to do something, do not even take a baby step without being in God’s word and in prayer, and I guarantee that you will never fail in what really matters.
Here is another reason an intention, even a God-directed one, fails. God is using the failure in your life to mold you, to burn out the dross, to glorify Himself.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about that! He has done it so many times in my life. Thank you.
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