There are some things that just work so well together… in fact, some are so well suited that the one part cannot work without the other… let’s think about salt without pepper or bacon without eggs for example … what about an aeroplane without an engine or perhaps a boat without a rudder. These pairs all depend critically upon one another and in fact, cannot achieve their goals without their partners.
Marriage is very similar. For those of us who are married – I’m sure we’ve sometimes wondered, “why on earth did I choose this partner!!!” Well, the good news is that, we may think we chose our partner, but in actual fact, it was an eternal plan of God’s from before the foundation of time! He knew exactly what type of partner each one of us needed. Now – I realise that this statement easily opens up a can of worms – so many questions that we can’t understand right now – but I can assure you – there are answers – however that’s a topic for another time!
Pairs work well together because they each bring a critical part into the overall equation. The aeroplane doesn’t go far without an engine, a boat will wonder aimlessly in the ocean without the rudder and believe it or not – marriages would be very boring if both individuals were exactly the same.
Our relationship with the Lord works in exactly the same way. We’ve kind of grown up believing that we can just ask God for things when we have need. Now, there’s nothing wrong with asking God for things – He does mention that in His word (Matt. 7:7) – but I realised that as I ask God for things, my focus is first, on myself and then, on God. It’s very easy then for us to have a relationship with God that’s a kind of ‘one-way street’.
As with the pairs we’ve discussed, there are two parts to our relationship with God – there is HIS part and there is OUR part…. And as with the mentioned pairs, one part doesn’t work without the other. Well, perhaps I should rather say, it’s not that they don’t work, but the overall experience is much more full when both parts are combined.
Let’s look at the Lord’s part of our relationship:
Fact 1 – Jesus died on the cross – witnessed by many.
Fact 2 – He died as a sacrifice to take away our sins – written in the book of Galatians 1:4
Fact 3 – He took away our sinful natures (the natures that drive us to sin) – this we see in Romans 6:6
Fact 4 – He gave us His Holy Spirit – as per 2 Cor.1:22
These four facts are God’s part of our relationship – already completed – done some 2,000 odd years ago – amazing thought isn’t it?
For our part of the relationship, we need to:
Firstly, Believe – that God has already done these things for us
And then, Obey Him through the principles he’s laid out for our daily lives.
And lastly, we need to daily bring these two facts to the relationship – belief and obedience.
Without all these parts being present in the relationship with Him, it can never be a totally full experience – we’ll only ever have a ‘part’ experience.
We can trust and know that God’s part has been done … but what about our side?
We may try very hard daily to do things the way God would have us do them but, as it seems, the more we try, the more we seem to fail. That’s simply because we are trying in our own strength.
As part of His side of the relationship, we saw that God gave us His Spirit. His Spirit dwells within us and begins to change us on a daily basis – nothing that we strive for – but just allowing Him to change us. The Holy Spirit within convicts us of our wrong doings and then we need to take these things to God in prayer – then, He will be faithful to change us as we give Him permission to do so – “Please change me Lord”.
Our challenge on a daily basis is that we keep focussing on our past wrongs and our current failings. This causes us to focus on us ourselves most of the time, instead of looking to God. The more we look away from ourselves and look at God, the more peace we will experience. How about currently in our lives – are we experiencing peace or stress? If peace – it’s because we are looking to God – if it’s stress we’re experiencing – it’s because we’re not looking to God.
Remember – God has already completed His part of our relationship – all we need to do on a daily basis is to believe He’s done it, and then allow His Spirit within us, to help us obey what He’s asked us to do.
May you be blessed this coming week as you seek the Master for His wisdom – until next time – God Bless.