“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17: 7-8)
Here again we are reminded that growth is God’s work. But there is another lesson from the tree:
Bearing fruit is a byproduct of faith in God.
Will our lives be different as a result of walking with God? Yes. Will we be changed to become more like Christ? Yes. Is that the point, the focus of our efforts? No. The point is faith—trusting obedience—in God. The point is relationship and connection. Growth, fruit, is the external result of an internal work.
Paul places our work, our effort, in the context of God’s work in us:
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Phil. 2:12b-13)
God is at work in us. And He is in charge of the process and the progress. That’s why it’s slightly misguided to set our own timelines for growth.
Can we have goals? Yes. But maybe our goals should be more about how we can create space for God to work in our lives, how we put down roots by the River, how we can respond to His molding.
————————–
The words of the psalmist make an apt prayer for New Year’s:
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
It’s the numbering of our days, the acknowledgment of our limits, the confession of our finiteness—not the delusion that we can “do it all” or “have it all”—that leads to wisdom. Don’t let resolution-making spring from the myth that we are unbounded; don’t make goals from a confidence in our own strength.
The psalmist concludes:
“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”
What we find when we confess our limitations and the limitations of our own resolve is the blessing of knowing that only God can establish the work of our hands.
So, may His favor be on you this year.
————————–
The words of the psalmist make an apt prayer for New Year’s:
– See more at: http://glennpackiam.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/12/on-the-limits-of-resolutions-1-1.html#sthash.gYLfHTfS.dpuf