Partnering with God!

Partnering with God!

(Prov 16:3 NIrV) Commit to the LORD everything you do. Then your plans will succeed.

A couple of verses ago Solomon told us that “We may make our plans, but God has the last word.” In answering the question of what the message meant to you, I said: “It means that you owe it to yourself, your family, and your future to seek God—in His sovereign wisdom and eternal love—for guidance for this year and beyond.

Once you have what you believe is His direction, then it will be up to you to make plans and to seek to fulfill them; with the assurance and confidence of knowing that where He leads, He feeds and where He guides, He provides!”

Two verses later Solomon tells us very clearly that our plans can succeed, but the caveat is that we must commit everything we do to the Lord.

The Message Bible paraphrase of this verse reads: “Put GOD in charge of your work, then what you've planned will take place.” But if I am committing “my” plans completely to the Lord, are they really “my” plans? If I am putting God in charge of “my” plans, then whose plans do they become? Herein lies the dual aspect—God and man, man and God—of our walk with God.

I will further elaborate by using myself as an example. My mother raised me like most parents – UP and OUT. As soon I grew UP I was able to get OUT on my own. Life happened and as a result made many foolish choices However when I gave my life to Christ. I was then taught to be totally dependent on God.

I was not to make any plans or do anything without Him. I was supposed to pray about everything and change my thinking to line up with the Word of God. It was all new to me, but I made every attempt to be totally dependent on God. And then, I am not sure when it happened, I got to the point where I realized that God trusted me to make my own decisions.

I had enough Word in me and I was sensitive enough to the leading of the Holy Spirit that my ways were now aligned with His ways, my thoughts were peppered with His thoughts, and my nature was shaped after His. At this point I was still relying on God (and still am), but I also realized that He was relying on me. I was dependent on Him and He was dependent on me. I needed Him and He needed me. He wanted to operate in my sphere of influence and He needed me to cooperate with Him. It was then that I realized that we were a team. Me and God, God and me; together making a difference!

Paul said something similar in 1st Corinthians 15:10. Paul said, “But because of God's grace I am what I am.” If he stopped there you would think that it was all God and none of Paul. If that were the case then other believers would take issue with God and say, “Why didn’t you use me like you used Paul?” But Paul went on to say: “And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles.” Oh, I see! So it was NOT all God. Paul did have something to do with it. But if Paul stopped there it would sound a little like pride. So Paul continued, “But I didn't do the work. God's grace was with me.” So was it God? Yes. But was it Paul? Yes. It was both: God and Paul, together, partnering to make a difference.

So what does this mean to you ? It means that the Father wants to partner with you today. When you commit to the Lord everything you do, You allow Him to get involved in your plans, and your plans then become joint ventures with God. If you really want to enjoy Godly success in 2010, get God involved in all that you do.

Once Jehovah is partnered with you and you with Him, your life will never be the same!

Father, I am preparing the plans for 2010 and I don’t want them to be just MY plans. Not only do I ask You to lead, guide, and direct me as I prepare them, but I also ask You to get involved in every aspect of the execution of them. I am no longer my own. I depend on You and I know that You depend on me. You want to operate in my life and in my sphere of influence and I want to cooperate with the process. I will partner with You and I trust that You will partner with me to make the impact that You desire to make in the lives of others this year and beyond. Together Father, let’s go make a difference! In Jesus’ name. Amen!