So here's how I'm going to invite you to join my thought process behind this blog post today. Consider this question? Should we even bother thinking of plans and ideas to work for God's glory? Why even try? I mean, I have already read Isaiah 55 v 8-9, and I remember it quite well, so why try. I know I probably shouldn't start with such a disheartening note, but let's take a look at what God says clearly in these verses.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
So back to the question. Why even try? Now one thing I have come to learn in life is that every question can be interpreted in a many different ways, and each interpretation tells us more about the interpreter than the question itself. So, Let me take this moment to anticipate a few things you might be anticipating about this blog post. You perhaps see me dimming the lights so that I can build contrast for a counter point which I am going to highlight. Guilty, as charged - I'm getting there. But, perhaps you have thought about this question yourself and have resigned to the conclusion that we should steer clear of making plans to achieve something for the kingdom of God, and instead spend time figuring out what His plans are, before taking any step. I sincerely hope that you will find a fresh perspective as you read on.
Now firstly, let me make clear that I do think that our plans, ideas and methods don't match up to God's. He makes it clear here and in other scriptures that, we can't even begin to fathom how great His plans are, and that He is able to do immeasurably more than anything we can ask or imagine. So to put it bluntly; when we've outdone ourselves and come up with something seemingly brilliant, God's still got a better plan...and not by a small margin - hence the heaven and earth analogy. However, I don't think that this necessarily leads to the conclusion that God doesn't want us to try. This jump usually comes when we swallow a faulty assumption. The assumption being that, the sole purpose of our efforts is to "achieve results".
I have learned that, when we tie our efforts directly to the results that we achieve, we ignore a lot of what the Bible says. For example in Psalms 127 God says :
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves
What God is saying is that our efforts alone do not guarantee results, but it is He who grants the results to our labours, in accordance to His grace and mercy. This adds another aspect to our drive towards hard work. That we don't just work for results, but we work hard in order to honour God with our efforts without trying to force his hand into granting us results. A good analogy would be to understand our efforts in the light of an aspect which we accept about our prayers. We pray to God for things to change, but always hope to accept - like Jesus did - "Let not mine, but Your will be done." In praying this we affirm that our prayers are not just about achieving results, but also about connecting with our heavenly father, putting our burdens on Him, and finding comfort in the knowledge that the Creator of the Universe cares to listen to our sometimes naive requests. Then perhaps our efforts are also more than just about producing desired measurables. Perhaps they testify to the worth of a God who deserves surrender of not only our desires, but also our physical and mental capabilities. Maybe these efforts humble us in the knowledge that they will achieve nothing expect if God brings them to fruition. Perhaps they motivate us to depend more on God since we have invested towards His kingdom something more than our words. In understanding this, our efforts become something that strengthen our relationship with Him, regardless of what they result in, with regards to a human, measurable goal.
However, I think that's not all. There's another beautiful surprise awaiting those who choose to worship God with their plans and efforts, and I think it lies hidden in the following statement by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians.
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:11
Did you catch it? Notice what Paul is saying . "... he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness..." (emphasis mine). Paul is praying that God may take hold of their faith inspired actions and their righteous desires in order to make it a reality. Listening to that really makes me excited. God would actually be interested in my thoughts and efforts. To be clear, (and repetitive) - I'm not suggesting that we somehow surprise God with something that He didn't have or couldn't think of. I'm merely suggesting that perhaps He is more willing to have us closely involved in the process of building His kingdom, than we would like to think He is. To provide another analogy - God is less like an over achieving manager who always forces his best laid plans on his subordinates, and more like a loving father who knows how to compensate for his children's well intentioned but ill-devised plans. Let's consider the following in order to put things in perspective. God tells us that He is able to use for good all that the enemy means for evil. How much more is He able to use our plans and efforts if they acknowledged Him and are purposed for His glory.
Perhaps we have limited our interaction with God in terms of being used by Him to being similar to the role we play at our workplaces as employees. If yes then, we need to draw nearer to Him and realize that He is not interested in servants who merely do His bidding to gain a wage, but instead wants to develop us into His sons and daughters who emulate His character and carry out tasks to witness a harvest, in which we are partakers. We need to realize that it is His plan to transform us by the renewing of our minds so that our desires are truly good. And may we consider the possibility that every once in a while, the bright plan that we device for His glory, originated within us due to a gentle whisper of His Holy Spirit. That God would allow us to take ownership of a task, of which He himself is the initiator and perfecter, in order to make us feel a more integral part of His family.
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