Are you doing God's work God's way?

Posted : 7 Dec, 2010 07:04 AM

Here is a reminder of the importance of doing God's work God's way that blessed and encouraged and inspired my heart anew to reread with the Holy Spirit today from one of the back issues of Charles Stanley's In Touch devotional magazine.



Love,

Steve



Doing God's Work God's Way

Human strength can never replace divine power.

By Charles F. Stanley

One of the most amazing privileges that the Lord gives His children is the opportunity to participate in what He is doing. The One who needs no help and has the power to do whatever He wants calls us to labor alongside Him to accomplish His purposes on earth. Because He knows we need a higher goal in life than building our own personal kingdoms, He offers us the chance to take part in building His.



Since many people believe that �God�s work� is activity done by missionaries, pastors, or churches, I need to clarify what this term really means. The Devil has tried to trick us into believing that we can separate our lives into two distinct areas�the religious and the secular. Once we accept this, he can easily deceive us into thinking that �the Lord�s work� is done only by the clergy or those who serve in a church.



According to Scripture, each believer is �His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them� (Eph. 2:10). There is no division of secular and religious areas in the lives of Christians. Everything we do is to be done �as for the Lord rather than for men� (Col. 3:23). In faithfully doing our jobs, caring for our homes and families, or meeting needs in the church or community, we are serving Christ and participating in His activity.



As �God�s fellow workers� (1 Cor. 3:9), we need to know how to help accomplish His goals His way. A wonderful guiding principle is found in Zechariah 4:6-7. After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, the Israelites had been allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Under the command of Zerubbabel, they had laid the foundation, but because of harassment and difficulties, the temple had remained unfinished for 15 years.



The Lord sent a message to the prophet Zechariah, encouraging Zerubbabel to persevere and promising the completion of the temple. Although the work that God ordains varies with each individual and generation, the principle He gave to Zechariah thousands of years ago is still applicable today: ��Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,� says the Lord of hosts� (Zech. 4:6).



In this verse, we find two contrasting methods for completing a task. To tackle a job with might and power means to depend on our own resources and abilities, laboring with self-determination and reliance on human understanding and strength. At one point in my life, I discovered the futility of this method. I took on the burden of ministry and carried it till I was so exhausted that I had to take three months off to recover. That was not how God intended for me to do His work.



We are not called by the Lord to meet every need or take on every opportunity for service that we encounter. There is only so much He has allotted for each person to do. Does your schedule hold more than you can handle? If so, then it probably includes tasks that God has not meant for you. By spreading yourself too thin, the assignments He chose for you won�t be done well, and He will not be glorified.



The Lord does not bless what we do in our own self-determination. In fact, He may withdraw His hand, complicate circumstances, withhold the resources, and frustrate our efforts. Self-reliance results in stress, discouragement, and disillusionment. Being sovereign, God always accomplishes His plans with or without us. But by going our own way, we lose His blessing and the opportunity to see Him touch others through us.



One danger of laboring in our own strength is an attachment to the job rather than to God. Instead of thinking of ourselves as His servants, we can begin to consider the ministry as our own and derive our identity from it. In an attempt to draw self-esteem and purpose in life from a task, we risk making it an idol. A believer�s identity is in his relationship with Christ, not in what he achieves for the kingdom.



Zechariah 4:6 tells us that the other option for accomplishing God�s purposes is �by [His] Spirit.� Anything the Lord calls us to do should be done with total reliance upon the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. Knowing that human strength was completely inadequate for the service intended for His disciples, Jesus instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they were �clothed with power from on high� (Luke 24:49). How foolish to toil in inadequacy and frustration when God�s gracious provision is readily available within us.



But how can we know if we are relying on the Spirit? First of all, let me tell you what this does not mean. Depending on the Lord is not a matter of praying for His blessing on what we choose to do, abdicating responsibility by �letting go and letting God,� or turning to Him as a last resort after exhausting ourselves and running out of options.



True reliance upon the Lord is a deep conviction that we cannot do the work without Him. In other words, if He doesn�t work through us, it will not be done. One of the sweetest prayers God ever hears from His children is, �Oh God, I can�t!� because He knows we are about to depend completely upon Him.



This prayer may come easily to our lips when a task is huge, but what about the small jobs which seem within our capabilities? One of the most surprising obstacles to dependence upon the Lord is our own success. Past achievements can cause us to become overconfident and to think, I can handle it. This is the same philosophy promoted by the world�s system, which says, �You can do it without God.�



We need to guard against rating our need for the Spirit�s power based on the size of the task. In reality, we cannot even take our next breath apart from His involvement. If we truly understood our helpless condition, we would cry out to the Lord every morning, asking for His strength to face the day no matter what it brings. Let�s learn to depend on Him, whether we consider the job at hand small or extremely important.



Once we have come to the end of our self-sufficiency, God will empower us to do the tasks He has ordained for us. But to discern how to fulfill our callings, we must seek His direction daily by submitting ourselves to Him, filling our mind with the truth of Scripture, and keeping an ongoing conversation with the Lord throughout the day. Then in faith, knowing that He is working in and around us, we can watch for signs of His hand in our lives and circumstances.



God will be glorified not only in the work, but also in those who believe and rely on Him to complete it. As they see the evidence of His faithfulness, praise and gratitude will flow from their hearts, and the worry and stress of self-effort will be replaced with peace and joy. The temptation to give up in defeat will turn into endurance, even in the face of opposition and suffering.



Anywhere the Lord has a goal to accomplish, opposition can be expected. Zerubbabel faced tremendous resistance in his efforts to build the temple, but the Lord promised to remove all barriers and bring about the completion of His house (Zech 4:7). As long as we reside on this earth, difficulties will continue, but keep in mind that no obstacle is too big for the Lord. We may consider our responsibilities weighty and the demands of ministry strenuous, but such things never tax God�s energy.



Some of the conflict we face is invisible. Because there is a war raging between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, opposition arises whenever Christians seek to labor side by side with the Lord. Believers desperately need to cloth themselves in God�s armor each morning so they can �stand firm against the schemes of the devil.� Only then can they �be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might� (Eph. 6:10-11).



Roadblocks to God�s work come in a variety of forms. Circumstances challenge our endurance, people try our patience, and fears threaten to overwhelm. Past failures tempt us to give up, and unbelief causes us to doubt that the Lord can help. By focusing on the impossibility of a task, we forget that with God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). By facing our fears and pressing on in obedience, we learn that He is faithful.



Barriers to our service for the Lord are never meant to stop us; instead, they provide an opportunity for the demonstration of divine power. If we never face resistance, we won�t ever come to know the greatness of our God. This is not a time to moan and groan in defeat but, rather, to rise up in faith and, like Moses, to say, �Show me Your glory!� (Ex. 33:18).



So often we want to know the Lord only through the comfort of our salvation experience, not through the struggles and obstacles of sacrificial service. But the apostle Paul came to know Christ more deeply through weakness, shipwreck, beatings, and danger (2 Cor. 11:24-30). He faced constant opposition and intense suffering, yet considered all of this to be �momentary, light affliction� which was producing �an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison� (2 Cor. 4:17).



Suffering is not a sign that we have somehow gotten off track and failed to do the work of God. Whenever His path leads through a time of adversity, the Holy Spirit can empower us with an attitude of expectancy as we watch to see what He will do. Knowing that the Lord is laboring for our good enables us to endure the hardship with patience and joy. If we persevere with faith and hope when difficulty arises, what a witness we will be to a lost world!



My heart�s desire is to do the Lord�s work His way�that is true success. Big, fast, and flashy accomplishments may impress people, but God aims for a deeper and more enduring success. While human capability and creativity can be very remarkable, if the Lord is not the one empowering the efforts, they will be like a meteor that burns brightly for a time and then passes off the scene into darkness, never bringing God glory or accomplishing what He desired.



In contrast, the work that the Lord does through us continues to shine like a star. Although its success may not be obvious from our limited earthly perspective, it will result in eternal rewards in heaven (1 Cor. 3:9-15). The goal of our labor should not be to make a big splash, but to end well, having done everything that God entrusted to us�and in a manner that gives Him all the glory and praise.



Questions for Further Study



God�s Perspective



1.Read Psalm 127:1-2. What determines whether your labor is vain or productive (v. 1)? What does God say about a workaholic lifestyle (v. 2)?

2.Read 2 Timothy 2:20-23. What qualities hinder your usefulness to the Master, and which ones prepare you for every good work?

3.Read Psalm 62:5-12. In verse 5, what instruction can help you prepare for a busy day ahead? When difficulties and opposition arise in your job or ministry, how can you enter God�s stronghold and not be shaken (vv. 6-8)? What do verses 9-10 reveal about the Lord�s perspective of what the world calls success? How can verses 11-12 motivate you to let God initiate and empower all you do?

Our Reward



1.Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. How does the Lord distinguish worthless effort from eternally valuable labor?

2.Read Galatians 6:7-8. This passage gives us a further insight about this difference. Explain it in your own words.

Our Hope



1.Read Philippians 1:6. What does God promise to do for you?

2.Knowing that the Lord wants to do His work through you, pray Colossians 1:9-12, and believe that He will do it.

Confused about the Holy Spirit?



Dr. Stanley explains why relying on the Spirit of God is the only way to achieve spiritual victory.



Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit



Small hardcover | $12 (U.S.)



Copyright 2010 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.

Post Reply