In Ephesians 2:10 it says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
When I think about what God has led me through in my life, I rarely think about this in terms of what God is doing or thinking of myself as God's workmanship. But, it is clear that from the Bible's perspective, that God allows some things into our lives in order to create in us the kind of person he wants us to be. An example of this is in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 when Paul says,
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me-to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might departm from me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness"
So, when Ephesians talks about His workmanship, he is not just talking about the strengths, but also the dark places, the weakness, the insults, the bad days, as well as, the good. The education, the perspective, the experience, the thoughts, the personality. All of these things God uses to bring about His will in your life and to use you as he wants to. Look at the disciples. Peter was a person who often spoke before he thought, but he had natural leadership skills. He also has a tendency to sink when walking on water, but God used that experience also to teach him and us.
God does not waste anything, nor does he allow us to be placed on a shelf and not to be used by Him if we are open to HIs will. We can chose to close oursevles off and act in false humility and act as though God could not possibly use us. By saying that your really saying that God is limited and ultimately your insulting God. God using you is not about how great you are. It is about how great and gracious God is. When we see Him at work in our lives, we should simply praise Him that he has the ability and grace and mercy to use us despite our weaknesses. That as he told Paul that his grace is sufficient.
Part of this is just making yourself available and saying "yes" when he calls. It may be that he calls you to places and ministries you have never thought of. I would never have guessed that I would work in a mental health agency and a foster home agency, but that is what has happened. That was not planned year ago by me, nor have I ever heard God speak to me about that. But, rather doors opened with little effort on my part and I saw a chance to serve. You never know what God may have in store for you if you say "yes".
Nor do you know the full impact of your influence. I believe we often underestimate the power of our actions and words. It may have influenced someone to do something for Jesus you aren't aware of, which in turn had influence on thousands of people. Only in heaven will we find out the true influence of what we did for good. We don't grow the seeds that we plant. We don't have any control over which ones grow and which don't. We are called to be faithful. God makes us fruitful as we abide in Him.
In John 15:4-5 it says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unelss it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
It is more though that not knowing our own influence, it is that we don't have any influence apart from Christ. Much like the moon in the sky that reflects the light of the sun and not its own light. We have no light of our own. The light that we shine in dark places that positively influence a person for Christ is also from Christ. The truth is, that our ability to bear fruit comes through him and apart from him there is only death and decay. He makes it possible. So, there is nothing for us to be proud about. We have only reflected his glory and not our own.
This is where I think many pastors and spiritual leaders make the mistake of taking pride in their own accomplishments. Like it is their glory that grew a church or made a program grow. Hopefully, it is not your charisma and glory that did that, otherwise it has no spiritual value. It is possible for churches and ministries to grow because of a person's charismatic authority. But, this is not true spiritual growth and when the person is gone, the growth does not continue. Rather, true spiritual grow is grow that ours when we become transparent and point people to Jesus and not ourselves and how cute and clever we can be.
When I think about what God has led me through in my life, I rarely think about this in terms of what God is doing or thinking of myself as God's workmanship. But, it is clear that from the Bible's perspective, that God allows some things into our lives in order to create in us the kind of person he wants us to be. An example of this is in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 when Paul says,
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me-to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might departm from me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness"
So, when Ephesians talks about His workmanship, he is not just talking about the strengths, but also the dark places, the weakness, the insults, the bad days, as well as, the good. The education, the perspective, the experience, the thoughts, the personality. All of these things God uses to bring about His will in your life and to use you as he wants to. Look at the disciples. Peter was a person who often spoke before he thought, but he had natural leadership skills. He also has a tendency to sink when walking on water, but God used that experience also to teach him and us.
God does not waste anything, nor does he allow us to be placed on a shelf and not to be used by Him if we are open to HIs will. We can chose to close oursevles off and act in false humility and act as though God could not possibly use us. By saying that your really saying that God is limited and ultimately your insulting God. God using you is not about how great you are. It is about how great and gracious God is. When we see Him at work in our lives, we should simply praise Him that he has the ability and grace and mercy to use us despite our weaknesses. That as he told Paul that his grace is sufficient.
Part of this is just making yourself available and saying "yes" when he calls. It may be that he calls you to places and ministries you have never thought of. I would never have guessed that I would work in a mental health agency and a foster home agency, but that is what has happened. That was not planned year ago by me, nor have I ever heard God speak to me about that. But, rather doors opened with little effort on my part and I saw a chance to serve. You never know what God may have in store for you if you say "yes".
Nor do you know the full impact of your influence. I believe we often underestimate the power of our actions and words. It may have influenced someone to do something for Jesus you aren't aware of, which in turn had influence on thousands of people. Only in heaven will we find out the true influence of what we did for good. We don't grow the seeds that we plant. We don't have any control over which ones grow and which don't. We are called to be faithful. God makes us fruitful as we abide in Him.
In John 15:4-5 it says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unelss it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
It is more though that not knowing our own influence, it is that we don't have any influence apart from Christ. Much like the moon in the sky that reflects the light of the sun and not its own light. We have no light of our own. The light that we shine in dark places that positively influence a person for Christ is also from Christ. The truth is, that our ability to bear fruit comes through him and apart from him there is only death and decay. He makes it possible. So, there is nothing for us to be proud about. We have only reflected his glory and not our own.
This is where I think many pastors and spiritual leaders make the mistake of taking pride in their own accomplishments. Like it is their glory that grew a church or made a program grow. Hopefully, it is not your charisma and glory that did that, otherwise it has no spiritual value. It is possible for churches and ministries to grow because of a person's charismatic authority. But, this is not true spiritual growth and when the person is gone, the growth does not continue. Rather, true spiritual grow is grow that ours when we become transparent and point people to Jesus and not ourselves and how cute and clever we can be.
