"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13
This scripture and I have been like this — *crosses fingers* — for quite some time. I love that God not only reveals His will to us, but He gives us the desire to do it. How does that happen exactly? I'm not entirely sure of all the details, but I do know in part — committing yourself and all you do to God, and of course, getting in the Word.
Right now I want to talk about committing your works to the Lord. As I begin the day, I pray Proverbs 16:3:
"Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established."
Either then or sometime later on, I starting writing out my "to do" list for the day (you don't have to write yours out. Just do what He leads you to do!). As I write, I get a "sense" of what the highest priorities are in God's view. I start there. As the day progresses and things get accomplished, I cross them off and keep myself open to His direction. Sometimes that direction will be specific, such as getting a particular article written or chore handled. But it's often general direction like working on my list of things I want to fix up or change on the blog, or just plain "relax and rest."
I still have moments (or days, cough) where I allow myself to get stressed and overwhelmed. But I know that God doesn't give us so much we get overloaded — if He's assigned it to us, then He also gives us the means to carry it out, no matter what those "means" might be.
He doesn't want us stressed. Stress means worry, and worry is fear. Fear is the polar opposite of faith. Committing your works to the Lord and refusing to worry about the things still left undone requires faith. Worrying about them will take you further from the goal line, not bring you closer to it.
Believe me, I don't have this perfected yet, but just like everything else in my walk with God, I keep pressing on and letting Him teach and correct me.
For example, even though I've been praying this way for a bit now, this morning He led me to dig a little into the Hebrew of Proverbs 16:3 and to read it in a few different versions. When I saw it in the Amplified Bible, it got printed out and tacked to my wall:
"Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He
will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall
your plans be established and succeed."
When fear of not getting things finished begins to press me, I'm going to press it back with the Word of God. I've put my works in the hands of God, and because of that, all of them will be established AND succeed! Glory!
I know this may sound restrictive to you, but it is so far from that. It's freedom. Understanding that my God knows what this day, the rest of the week, and the entire year holds for me, removes fear (which is bondage). I know if He doesn't place an "urgency" to do something on my heart today, then I won't be found lacking tomorrow. It'll get done when it needs to get done! On top of that, I end up getting more done by the end of the day, and without feeling "fried."
Before I publish this, have you ever read Matthew 6:33 and wondered just how you're supposed to walk it out in everyday life?
"But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." Matthew 6:33
Proverbs 16:3 is your answer. If you commit yourself to Him and His way of doing things, you
are seeking His Kingdom and righteousness first.
