So, God spoke to me today while I was cleaning up the
parking lot at work. The corners near the curb collect a lot of debris,
especially after it rains like it did this weekend. In order to get most of the
trash and to make the corner cleaner, I used my grabber to transfer most of the
pile onto the mulch. As I began to pick through it and pull out the trash,
starting with the bigger, more obvious pieces and then digging through for the
smaller bits, I was struck by how this is exactly what God does with us.
He rescues us; pulls us out of the world (where we don’t
belong anyway) and places us in His kingdom (where we were created to belong). Then,
He begins to work on clearing all the trash out of our souls. He starts with
the biggest issues (and what’s “big” varies from person to person) and then He
begins to dig deeper and remove the “smaller” offences from our lives.
It is so easy for me to think I have to be perfect before I
run to Jesus. When I become aware of a sin in my life, I am often guilty of
trying to fix it on my own. I always feel like I need to clean myself up at
least a little bit before I bring my problems to Him. But today He showed me,
through a pile of leaves and litter, that He simply wants me to let Him work. I
don’t have to somehow be good enough to run to Him, I just have to run to Him
and be willing to let Him take out whatever needs to go, even if it’s something
I’d rather hang onto. Yes, once He points out the sin, I must choose to follow
His way not my own, but I don’t have to do it on my own. In fact, I cannot do
it under my own steam. I need the Holy Spirit to be able to live a holy life.
That’s the reason He was sent - to be our Parakletos
(one who comes alongside to help, advise, and advocate for).
God knew what kind of mess He was getting when He called me.
My job is to respond to the call and let Him have His way; because God’s way is
always the best way. As the saying goes, “God’s will is what you would choose
for yourself if you had sense enough to choose it.”
“We please Him most,
not by frantically trying to make ourselves good, but by throwing ourselves
into His arms with all our imperfections and believing that he understands
everything - and still loves us.”
~ A. W. Tozer
No comments:
Post a Comment