Some things God does for us and we are grateful. Isaiah 63:7 But there are some things that God won’t do. He’s not going to help you cheat on a test. He’s not going to help you sin. He is not going to take away your freedom to eat what you want or when. He allows you to say what you want to say and do what you want to do. Your free will is important to him because he wanted a friend, not a robot. Let’s look at some situations and ask the question “What is my job and what is God’s job?”
When Your Marriage Is in Trouble
Our Job
- Check our own selves for selfishness
- Learn to walk in forgiveness, patience and love
- Remember that we can only change ourselves
God’s Job
- To soften and transform our heart
- To soften and transform our spouse’s heart
- Help us forgive
When We Are Sick
Our Job
- Learn all we can about the illness
- Work to make the appropriate changes in our lives
- Go see a doctor
- Do what the doctor tells us to do [insert the graphic from mind map we trust our Dr. but our hope is in Jesus]
- Continually pray for healing and ask others to pray as well
God’s Job
- To grant wisdom to know what to do
- Provide the strength to do it
- Provide the tenacity and encouragement you need
- Provide comfort and peace
If We Need Employment
Our Job
- Try to spend less
- Be diligent in looking for a job by networking, shooting for the stars, and being humble enough to take available opportunities
- Continue building our skills
- Pray for ideas, resources and connections
God’s Job
- Give us creative ideas for income/work search
- Connect us with people and resources
- Provide tenacity and wisdom
- Help us to remember that we are not defined by the money we make but by the fact that we are a child of God
When We Want to Help a Loved One Come to Christ
Our Job
· Pray
- Provide safety with unconditional love
- Never manipulate, nag or push
- Be available to say the right thing at the right time
- Tell the truth, even if it hurts in the context of unconditional love
God’s Job
- To convict their sin and draw them to repentance John 16:8
- To give them dreams in the night
- Put people in their path that can influence them in the right direction
- To use his infinite wisdom and tact to firmly and gently draw them to himself
When Our Job Is Done Get Out of God’s Way
When our job is done it is important to get out of God’s way. When we try to do God’s job for him, we don’t do it as well and usually mess things up. When we try to do God’s job, we charge ahead, control and manipulate people and situations. It’s like calling 911 and when the paramedics arrive, pushing them out of the way. It takes a lot of trust on our part, but we can have peace knowing God’s wisdom is greater than our own.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 not to worry. Once we have done our job, we can trust God to do his part. We can walk in joy and peace knowing that it was never God’s plan that we handle everything on our own. It was always his plan that we would need him.
The Rock, your place to belong
At the Rock, you can belong before you believe. Use the links to the right to begin your relationship with Rock Church. If you are local to Fargo, click the “free movie ticket” button to check the right and out one of our services, every Sunday at 10 AM, at West Acres Cinema. If you are not local to our area, that’s okay. There are all kinds of ways that you can participate in the happenings at Rock Church. We have many people that only interact with our church online. Use the “become a friend” button to be included in everything we are doing.
