Another Year of Choices
By Barbara Dahlgren
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we know that salvation is a given. It’s a done deal. However, we are expected to do more than just bask in the glory of knowing we are saved. Our relationship with God is not all up to Him. We must have a desire to know Him, walk with Him, and seek His presence. We need to participate in what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have going on, not just observe. We should be participants, not spectators. So we need to do our part.
Relationship with God involves participation in what He is doing. Yes, God can do it all, but where does that leave us? God does not generally do for us what we can do for ourselves. There is a difference in asking God to bless our work than asking Him to do it for us. All through the Bible God required some sort of participation. When Jesus performed miracles He could have just waved his arms, said abracadabra, and had everything done automatically. He usually didn’t do that because He wanted people to be a part of what he was doing. Here are a few examples.
- When He turned water into wine, He had men bring barrels of water. (John 2:7-8)
- When He raised Lazarus from the dead, He asked the people to roll away the stone. (John 11:39-44)
- When He was going to feed the 5000, He had a little boy share his lunch. (John 6:9-13)
- When the disciples weren’t catching fish, He had them cast the net on the other side. (John 21:6)
- When He was going to heal the man with a withered hand, He told the man to stretch out his hand. (Matthew 12:13)
Even though God parted the Red Sea, the Israelites still had to walk through it. If they had not walked through it, they would not have gotten to the other side.
Sometimes our part is just to “arise” – get up and get going. On the surface it may seem simple, but sometimes it can be hard to just get out of bed and face another day. Elijah was discouraged because Jezebel was after him, so he laid down under a juniper tree and asked God to let him die. But God sent an angel who said, “Arise and eat.” So Elijah ate…but he laid back down. The angel came again and said, “Arise and eat so you can go on a journey.” In other words, “Okay, Elijah, now the pity party is over. Time to get up and get going.” And that’s what Elijah did. His discouragement didn’t leave immediately, but this was a step in the right direction. (1 Kings 19:1-9)
Popular author and Women of Faith speaker, Patsy Clairmont, knows how difficult it can be to just get out of bed. At one conference she spoke about her struggle with agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces and crowds of people. For years she couldn’t even walk to her mailbox. She felt trapped in her house. She didn’t even want to get out of bed. One day her prayer changed from, “Lord, fix me” to “Lord, I’ll do whatever I need to do to get well.” She thought she could hear the Lord whispering for her to get up and make her bed. Some days that’s all she could do – but she arose and made her bed. It was the start of her slow, long and difficult road to recovery. She had to do her part to participate in her recovery.
Consider this… “Part” is “part” of the word “part”-icipation. God is certainly willing to do His part; are we willing to do our part, no matter how small it may seem?
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
- Participation means to do something. Of course we want God involved in everything we do so prayer is a key component is what we choose to do. However, lazy prayers will not produce good fruit. We can’t just lie in bed and say, “Lord, if you want me to eat today just drop the food in my mouth.” We can’t say, “Lord, I know if you want me to work, you will bring me a job.” Do something!
- Volunteer for a worthy cause. You don’t need to sign your life away but you can probably spare a few hours a month or a week for others. Do something!
- Try to improve by learning a new skill, taking a class, joining a bowling team! Do something!
- Don’t be afraid of failure! Thomas Edison tried to invent the light bulb 1000 times before he got it right. Do something!
- If we are addicted to activity, here are some things we may need to do: slow down, spend more time meditating and take a nap! Instead of forging ahead from one activity to another it might be good to include God in our planning and wait for Him to direct us. That way we can participate in what He wants, not what we want.
