Who Is Doing It?

I have been thinking lately that too often we are doing things in our own strength and not giving God the room to work. Sometimes when we have a lot of different skills this might be a liability rather than an asset as we often think we can do things on our own. But the truth is just because we can, doesn’t mean that we should do what we think we ought to do. We must wait on God and let Him do the work. This can take a lot of self-control as being still to let God do His thing can be so difficult. But it is very important to wait for Him rather than go out to try to fulfill the promises we believe He gave us. If He said it, then He will do it and He will guide us to the fulfillment of His promises in our lives.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

God started the work, and He will complete it because He is not a man that He should lie and He doesn’t change His mind. He will carry out what He has promised no matter how things look. So, our confidence should not be in ourselves or others. But our confidence should be in God, who does the impossible and who nothing is too hard for. We should keep our eyes on Him and trust Him. Charles Spurgeon wrote about where our confidence should be.

It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is He who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do.

We should stop trying to get things done our own way. It is prideful when we think we don’t need God to lean on. And we must remember that God humbles the proud. Often, we might not wait for His instructions having confidence in ourselves to get things done our way. We may experience worldly success for a while, but we will not be successful in God’s eyes, because any work without Him is nothing. He will not force Himself into our lives to have His way. He wants us to surrender to Him to let Him do whatever He pleases with our lives. We may never receive the deliverance we want because we are trying to achieve it in our own strength. However, it is God who brings us to the point of delivery.

“Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God. Isaiah 66:9

God will bring about new life, but we need to let Him do the delivery. He wants us to have deliverance in Him. We need to stop being so preoccupied about everything that is going on around us and instead let God do whatever He wishes. This may not be easy to do because we don’t want to feel like we have lost control of our lives, but it is best to have our lives in His capable hands. We don’t have to worry.

Yet worry becomes impossible once we accept Jesus Christ’s revelation that God is our Father and that we can never think of anything he will forget. People who trust Jesus Christ in a definite, practical way are freer than anyone else to do their work in the world. Free from fretting and worry, they are able to go about their days with absolute certainty because the responsibility for their lives rests not with them but with God.  

The above is a quote from Oswald Chambers. It is freeing to believe that God is responsible for our lives. And it is comforting to know we are in His hands, when we truly know Him. If we have the wrong perception of God, then we may not feel safe with Him. But when we know the truth and we don’t allow Satan to distort how we see God, then we will know He is a good Father and He is working in our lives for His glory. Yes, things may be difficult at times, but we will know He is doing a good work in our lives and He will bring it to completion.