Reminders: Advising God

It has been said that, “Most people would be happy to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.” Unknown

It’s true that we are called to follow God’s plans, but most of us have our own ideas about how that plan should be administered.  We don’t like to be told what to do or asked to do anything too difficult.  We like to do things on our own time schedule, and with a minimum of effort.  In short, we have our own agendas, and we want to do things for God only at our convenience.

On the flip side, when we need God, we like to tell Him where and when to deliver the thing we think we need.  We want Him to rescue us in dangerous situations, cure our illnesses, protect our children and help them succeed.  This is not to say that all of us would admit to feeling this way, but try forming a committee in many churches and the reluctance to do God’s work is telling.  We are all busy, and it is understandable that we might not want to get so overly involved that we are not able to do everything we want to.  The problem is that we need to be sure that we are setting priorities based on God’s will. 

Pastor Jack Wellman puts it this way, “Jesus said: Whoever has, will be given more, and they will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Matthew 13:12   So [Wellman asks] which are you?  Are you a good steward?  Then you will receive a great reward but if not, you will receive little or next to nothing.  As for me, I would rather hear Jesus say: ‘Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:23   I suspect that if you’re a believer, that’s what you want to hear too.”

When we try to tell God what to do, we soon find out that God is in charge, and He really does know best.  When we humble ourselves and look to God for guidance, life goes much better for us.