I’m starting this off with an apology.
The apology is really for God, but since the responsibility He’s given me is for your benefit, I suppose the apology is for you too.
There’s a sentiment I often share with my friends when we lament about university deadlines: “Something about the work, it always gets done.” Someway somehow, no matter how intimidating it seems or how long we put it off for, our work is still always done by deadlines (and *usually* done well).
So why can’t I say the same about my blogs?
Most of you probably don’t know this, but I am on a schedule for these posts. This series is a complement to the Bible Recap plan which Skinneeds is following; therefore, each post should ideally come out the day we finish reading the relevant book, or shortly after.
As the year progressed, I made my writing goals weekly. My aim was to write one blog a week, which could then be kept until the relevant time.
I’m realising so many things as I tell you guys this.
First, that I never asked God for His input. That’s standard for me; I approach life with a just-keep-moving-and-God-will-steer-your-course-without-you-asking-Him-about-every-single-decision mindset. There is a Biblical place for such an approach, and maybe I’ll talk about that at some point, but in my case it’s been evidence of my independence of God.
Independence is a quality we generally strive to achieve, so why is that bad?
Let’s do a case study. I’m currently reading 1 Samuel and one thing about David – before he does anything, he gon inquire of the LORD. David was so intimate with God that he simply wouldn’t make a move without consulting Him. He was dependent on God. It’s incredibly admirable and likely part of why David was a man after God’s own heart.
You see, independence may be desirable in other relationships, but the opposite is true with God. As we grow in maturity we grow in dependence on Him, because we realise more and more that He is the source of everything and the One who can best direct our lives. On the other hand, independence is an indication that we think we can handle life just fine by ourselves.
I’m going to pause to reiterate that dependence does not mean you need to consciously hear from God about everything. Paul’s missionary journeys are a perfect example of this. He made decisions and plans with wisdom, which he had from the Spirit of God dwelling in him. Because he was led by that Spirit, God tweaked those plans along the way as necessary (e.g., Acts 16:7). God is not a dictator and gives Christians room to freely decide between good alternatives. But we can rest assured that when specific direction is needed, He will certainly give that too.
Anyway, back to me ;)
As if it wasn’t bad enough that I made plans to do God’s work without consulting Him, I didn’t even stick to those plans. What God explained to me today was that this is the result of a misplacement of priorities and me losing sight of what my life is really about: knowing Christ and making Him known. Everything I do and everywhere He’s placed me is a means to that end.
We should never forget that Jesus commands us to seek His kingdom first, and rest assured that every other thing that we need for our joy to be full will be added to us.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Btw, I don’t consider it a coincidence that mere hours before God spoke to me about this, I wrote the following words in my prayer journal:
“Today’s goal: be wholly dependent on Yahweh, like David was.”