God has done so much for us that we often feel our efforts for Him could never be enough to please Him. While it is true that we can never repay Him for his grace, redemption, and countless other blessings, we can sometimes get too caught up in our feelings of inadequacy that we jump at any ministry opportunity available in order to somehow pay Him back. In such cases, though, it is usually not God's will but our own that we are seeking to fulfill.
How easy it becomes, then, to find ourselves trapped behind self-made fences of good works that may make us feel "holy" but are more about us than about Him. Yes, God has called us to service, but that service should be at his direction and not ours. His plans for us may not be glamorous, may not seem to onlookers as useful as others, but are we trying to please man and ourselves or God?
One thing we can be sure of is that God will never require of us more than He has equipped us for. Oh, we may not realize at first that we can do what He asks of us, but if it is truly God that has called us into a form of service He will provide us with the skills and strength to do the task well.
Living behind our fences of good works is spiritually exhausting and not nearly as productive as living in the freedom of choosing to follow God's plan for our lives.
It is a sure sign that we are seeking rather to indulge our own self-love than to please God when we prefer our own will to His. For if we only desired to do His holy will we should always be content and tranquil with this thought, God only requires of me what I am able to give Him...
--from Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade..
0 comments:
Post a Comment