Wednesday, July 20, 2016

God's 'Plan A'

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  Matthew 5:14-16

Monday marked my 50th birthday.  In taking a moment to pause in reflect, I felt God tugging at me and making me uncomfortable.  I felt pushed to be more daring and willing to challenge my own comfort level.  Here is one area where I felt challenged; doing instead of just praying.  I have heard a lot of people speaking of the world being fallen and that the country needs to repent and turn to God after the many recent deaths of both civilians and police officers.  That on the surface sounds like a wonderful idea, and yes, we should always pray for more God in the world.  However that’s when I stopped to think about it.  Do we sometimes use praying for God to come down as an excuse to not do His work?  Another way of putting this is, do we leave things for God to handle just because it is either too uncomfortable or inconvenient for us to do it?

While God can certainly handle anything, sometimes we need to acknowledge we are Plan A.  I love these words from Jesus because it serves as a rallying cry.  It speaks to empowerment saying that we have God’s power to do His will whenever called on.  We often look at God as the Almighty, The great I Am, and many other terms of respect for His authority.  However we often fail to remember that through the Holy Spirit, God resides right within us.  I am not saying that we ourselves our God.  What I am saying is that we are often called upon to be His vessel, and as such must act to as one of my favorite sermons once said, “Go out and do!”  Thus whenever a situation calls for prayer, we must first pray to God what He wants from us.  It might be to just pray for help, but many times, He wants us to get our hands dirty and help someone.


God has given us so much!  He gives us His grace, love, and protection, but He also gives us power.  There is a saying that sometimes you ask the question, and sometimes, the answer is you.  Today’s verses say that we are His advocates for change and enlightenment in the world.  It is no wonder Jesus ends the book of Matthew saying, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  So let us be that light shining on the hilltop that cannot be hidden!  What do you need to change in your life to accommodate what God is asking of you?  How can you better discern when God wants prayer or commands actions?  My prayer is that we embrace that role of sometimes being His ‘Plan A.’ Amen.

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