Things We Sometimes Forget #1: Let God

I've been thinking long and hard for some time now about how to proceed with E-ncouragement and The View From Down Here... I knew it had to be personal, heartfelt and relative. All that thinking has produced a lot of inactivity, a fair amount of frustration and one or two false starts.

Here's the conclusion all that thinking has produced: just do it. Just be me, pray, trust God to speak through these words and let Him bring the results in the hearts of those who read. Don't sit and stew about "what if" or "maybe I should" or "who will." Just do it. Just write. Just trust God.

Its easy to forget the "trust God" aspect, isn't it? When life gets busy and we're trying to achieve our goals and the results aren't forthcoming, we tend to want to seize control and do what we feel needs done ourselves. "It's OK, God... I know you're busy. Let me handle this one."

How amazingly - stupefyingly - arrogant! I say this from experience, because I have that tendency. "God, you're just not working fast enough. I want results now! Let me do this one..."

Of course, every time I try to take over what I once turned over to God, the results end up a disaster.

And I eventually find myself on my knees, crying out to God to clean up the mess.

Sometimes we forget that we need to do our best, but leave the results to God. We need to plan, but - far more importantly - we need to pray. We need to trust Him to direct our paths and cover our mistakes (He is perfectly omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, after all!). We need to wait when God says, "Wait." We need to go when He says, "Go."

We need to - gulp! - yield. Oh, man, what an unpopular notion in our "You Have The Power Within You To Do Anything!" society. We need to remember these words from Paul:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV) (italics added for emphasis).

Amen indeed!