PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD

Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--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.

                One of the classic debates in Christianity is the very practical question of who directs the life of the believer. Is it all God? By this I mean does God set the course for each human being and we are bound to follow it? Is it all man? By this I mean does man have total control over the events of his or her life? Or is it some combination of both?                The Apostle Paul seems to indicate that the answer lies in a partnership between God and man.

                Nowhere does this seem more evident than in the realm of prayer. Prayer is really forming a partnership between me and God. Prayer is not passively asking God to act and then sitting around waiting for the results. Prayer is more like a high level strategy meeting, where options are discussed and a course of action determined. For example, I pray for wisdom to lead a meeting, and then I organize an agenda and lead the meeting. I don’t expect to show up at the meeting and miraculously discover the agenda neatly typed out and waiting for me. Maybe this is a better example. I become aware of a specific need that a family has. They are struggling financially and finding it hard to make ends meet. I pray that God would provide for them. Then I go to the grocery store, buy a bag of groceries and deposit them at their house. Did God answer that prayer? Did I just take matter into my own hands? Or was this a partnership? I think the last option is true.

                Paul tells us that we have the responsibility to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Obviously he is not talking about earning our salvation. He made that crystal clear. What he is talking about is the practical responsibility that we have to live out our faith. We do this in full knowledge that we are not in control. Yet we have the responsibility to act. We cannot sit by passively and expect God to miraculously change our lives. God has told us what to do; now we have the responsibility to do it.

                The other side of the partnership is that God is actively at work within us giving us the desire to do His will. He is like the prompter off stage helping the actor to remember his lines. He is like the coach who shows the athlete how to perform and then encourages her to do it. He is like the life coach who helps a person determine the direction they should go and then cheers them on. God gives us both the will and the power to act.

                The key to the partnership is cooperation. We can choose to ignore God’s direction or we can choose to follow it. Our choice determines the outcome. In the Old Testament God often gave the people of Israel an option. He would say if you will do what I say this will be the outcome and if you choose not to do what I say this will be the outcome. Then God let them decide.

                I remember being at a High School track meet watching my sons compete. There was a gifted, but undisciplined, athlete on the team. He finished his race and collapsed on the grass near the coach. He laid there complaining that his legs hurt. The coach told him to get up and walk in order to stretch out his muscles. This would relieve his discomfort. I can’t, he moaned. The coach tried to encourage him, but he could not force him to get up.

                How often are we like that athlete? We encounter some difficult situation and we cry out to God. He directs us to take some action, but we complain that it is too hard. He promises us that if we will trust Him our situation will change. He doesn’t force us to act. The choice is ours.

                The Christian life is an unequal partnership with God. God is definitely the stronger, more powerful partner. But He is also gentle and compassionate. He knows what is best but He refuses to force us to do it. Instead He invites us to voluntarily obey Him. He gives us the chance to play an active and meaningful role in fulfilling His will in our world. He is patient. He often lets us move at our own pace. He is always present and He never gives up on us. He can see the potential in us that we cannot see. He encourages us to develop that potential guided by His skillful hand.