God Helps Us Meet Our Commitments to His Work
Recently, my church has begun to raise money to house the homeless in a to-be-renovated building on our property here in Charlotte. At one recent meeting there was a question raised about whether we could be true to this purpose. I was reminded of a commitment I made to God about my blog seven years ago. I had been posting on my website twice a month for three years, but I began to feel that I needed to commit to posting my blog every Monday morning. So, I made a commitment to post every Monday morning. Ever since that time, except for a few weeks of vacation the first year or two, I have religiously posted my blog every Monday morning since 2011.
And I have not had to scramble or come up with ideas for the blog at the last minute at all. Every Monday without fail, and without any pressure, I have posted my blog as I committed to do. And at any point in time I have had anywhere from 6 to 12 posts written ahead of time, in various states of readiness which I edit as needed. The Holy Spirit has made sure that I am well prepared weeks in advance so that there is no concern on my part at all about whether there will be content ready. For seven years…
God called me to post every Monday and makes it not only possible but easy for me to keep up with this task. He helps us to do what He calls us to do—with words or money or time commitments—whatever is needed He will provide. That has been my wonder-filled experience and is a given when God calls us to His purposes. So, I assured the gathered members of our church that God would help us in this commitment—in money and time and any help we need.
As Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”[1] And that’s been my experience with my blog. I get an idea for my blog and write down it down immediately, as it occurs to me. I file it away on its assigned date and edit it as the time nears for the posting. Other ideas come as they will and I always have enough essays done ahead of time that I have no anxiety at all about these ideas/blog posts.
It’s a marvel to me that the Lord helps me so much, and that He takes the lion’s-share of the task on His shoulders. Little did I know years ago when I gave my life to Him that His help would flow so freely and easily to the purpose I’ve been assigned. So, I don’t have to worry about the sequence of topics or what I should be writing next or where to get another idea. Or how to grow the audience. That is all totally in His hands. I do my part which is to write out the ideas He gives me—with His help—and make sure they are readable and true to what He is asking of me.
It’s a partnership with the Lord that I count on In everything I do. I’ve used this metaphor before, so forgive me if you’ve already seen it: I am the co-pilot of the airplane that represents my life. I am happy to cede the leadership to God who pilots my plane. We have a partnership that works beautifully for me.
It’s been true of writing the two books I have written, too. I have followed His lead in researching and writing both “Thy Kingdom Come!” and “Exodus: Our Story, Too!” Without the deadline of the blog writing a book has become an exercise in listening for what God wants me to do and then doing that.
Even if it means not working on the book for six months at a time, I do that, as I recently did with the Exodus book. First, I felt God saying that He didn’t want me to write anything until I was inspired to. Then, it became clear to me over that six months period that I needed to grow into the role of writing this book, that God had some healing in me to attend to first, and that I had a whole lot of reading and pondering to do before the book could be finished. And so, I gave up writing it at one point for six months, so that healing work could be done. At the same time I entered a year-long series called, School of the Spirit, a spiritual renewal program for people working in the church that came with a long reading list. I had the time to read all the books on the list and some on the alternative list. And there I found lots of quotes for the Exodus book. Amazing! I waited and read without any anxiety, because I have learned to trust Him in everything.
And that is how He helps us meet our commitments when we allow Him to pilot our lives.
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Questions to ponder over the week: How has the Lord helped you keep your commitments to Him? With what blessings or grace has He blessed you? Have you heard the voice of God’s Indwelling Spirit call you to your purpose? Do you know what your purpose is? Is the Lord guiding your life? Are you allowing Him to guide your life in all its aspects?
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Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who follow His very lead in every aspect of our lives. May we listen for His word in the Bible and within our own hearts and minds. May we be true to what He asks of us.
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I am collecting conversion stories. I am still not sure what the Lord’s intention is for collecting these, but if you would care to share yours, I would only use your initials to identify the author.
[1] Matthew 11:28-30