Elijah was used by God to call down fire from heaven and defeat the slave-priests of Baal, but then he burned out whining that he was the only one left and might as well die. Works? Then God leads him off to sleep eat and hang out in a cave for a while. Climb off the works and chill, right? Then God says, “let’s get back to work.”
When I climb on an altar, it is not to give up effort or trying or influencing others for Christ or carrying a heavy burden in my heart for the lost. No! It is to give up connecting my worth strength hope security to the activity or its outcome. So I must constantly rest in Grace and then grab works with gusto. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace am I saved through faith: and that faith I did not generate myself: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest I should boast. For I am his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
These good works are important. I need to do them unto the Lord, by His strength and at His command. Recently the Lord showed me that what I do is very valuable to Him for His people but then He turned around and had me yelled at by my boss for the poor content of my notes. Just as God yelled at Moses, after calling him to free His people, for not circumcising his sons. God was saying to us, “I want you to do my will but to do it with all your might and to do it well as unto me!” It is not enough to have a good attitude or great zeal, I need tools and approaches from His word that work and practice and skills and teamwork that work.
Attitude is not enough: There was a man with such a good attitude that although he was confined to a state hospital due to mood disorder, he wrote perhaps the most beautiful poem on the love of God ever penned. It was found scribbled on the wall of his room after he died anonymously.
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made. Were every twig on earth a quill, and every man a scribe, by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Good attitude did not stabilize him enough to leave the hospital. Dr Lowe was working at the Chicago psychiatric hospital in those days and did find a group of people who had stabilized without medications or treatment. What was the difference? They learned to be radically mindful, take their horrible reality and do the little that they could, leaving the outcome to God.
Zeal is not enough: Cromwell had 3000 zealous young fighters who went to war to defend their freedom of worship from the ungodly soldiers of the crown. They lost! Cromwell withdrew them and put them through a rigorous “boot camp”. Now they came back and the 3000 blew away 10,000 of the King’s best. Why? Now they had teamwork and skill as well as zeal! I thought that I could do this blog without much sweat, but got thrown off my own blog. Now God wants me to do the blog but learn all that I need to do it well. I trust that it will bless others as a result.
Lord, help me to do this blog, with skill and teamwork and do the little that I can, leaving the outcome to you.
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