Philippians 2:13-16 “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” This episode talks about how God gives us all we need to do what He wants us to do. It also talks about how well God knows us and that we don't disappoint Him. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God Is At Work In You
Philippians 2:13-16 “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
This is an excellent thing to think about and to remember. It is God who is at work in us, enabling us to both will and to work for His good pleasure God is the reason we are able to do all things. Sometimes we fall short of our expectations for ourselves. Actually often times we fall short of our expectations for ourselves. When it comes to the Lord, we set high expectations for ourselves. We want to serve Him, please Him, trust Him. We want to do all things for Him and we want to do them perfectly. He is our Father, or course we want to please Him. This isn’t a bad thing. It is good that we are striving to do things correctly, the way He wants us to. It is good if we are striving for Holiness. He wants us to strive for this and it makes Him happy when we are trying to live the way He asked us to. All these things are good things.
Where I think we get it wrong is when we think that we have to be perfect. When we think that God is looking for perfection and that we are letting Him down if we do anything less than our best. I don’t think that we fall short of the Lord’s expectations. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knew us completely before we were even born. He knows what we have been through over the years. He knows what we have done over the years. He knows everything about it. He knows what we are capable of giving and what we just can’t give Him right now. He knows where we are at emotionally and what is in our heart. You know how you have that one friend? The one that has been there for you through it all. The one that has seen you at your best and at your worst. The one that loves you not in spite of it all, but because of it all. Do you have a friend like that? If you had to pick one person that knew you better than anyone else, who would it be. Know think about how well that person knows you. God knows you better than even that friend. God knows you more intimately than you can even imagine. He has literally been there every second of you life. He has never left your side. Even when you tried to walk away, he stayed with you. Even when you said you wanted to be left alone, he was there with you.
Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations for ourselves and even for those we love sometimes. We expect people to be a certain way and to do certain things and then when they don’t we are disappointed in them. This is a normal human experience. We think because we are disappointed with ourselves, then God must be disappointed with us also. I don’t know if this is true. The definition of disappointment is sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations. I think if God knows us and He knows where we are at, then I don’t think He sets unrealistic expectations for us. I think He only expects from us what we are capable of giving Him. He may get angry sometimes when we don’t live as He has asked us to live, but I think he expects that from us, because He knows us and He knows human nature. We are only disappointed when people do things that we didn’t think they would do.
How does knowing this help us? When I remember this, it releases the pressure to be perfect. It allows me to make mistakes and know that God is merciful and that He is not disappointed in me. Disappointed is such a loaded word. I don’t know if always was, or it this is a new. However, if someone says they are disappointed with you, it hurts more than other things. For instance, no one wants to hear their parent say, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.” That is the worst, we would rather they be made at us. I don’t know why this is, I just know it’s true. We don’t want to let anyone down, especially God.
In the verse above it says that God is at work in us. Did you know this? We have all heard that God is always with us, He never leaves us, but did you know that He was at work in you? Did you know that He is enabling you to will and to work for his good pleasure? This means He is the reason that you want to please Him. He makes it possible for you to want to please Him. He empowers you to work for His good.
If you feel like you are not doing enough for the Lord, ask Him to help you do more. If you feel as though you don’t desire Him enough, ask Him for more. If you feel you are falling short in any way, ask the Lord for more. The Lord gives us all we need to do what He wants us to do. We might feel as though we will let him down because we don’t have what it takes to do what He is asking us to do. Let me reassure you, if He is asking you to do it, the He has given you all you need to do it. He would’t ask you to do something without equipping you for the call.
The other day, my mentor, felt God was calling her to talk about a very sensitive subject on her podcast. She felt a calling to talk about suicide and how we need to take that option off the table. She did not feel equipped to talk about that. She is not a counselor, she is not a doctor or a psychologist, she has not formal training in that area. And yet, God was calling her. She resisted for days, because that is what we do when we don’t feel qualified. We pretend we don’t hear the Lord, or we tell Him we can’t possibly do it. We tell Him He has the wrong person. Imagine that, telling God He has the wrong person, like we know better than he does. And yet we have all done it. Finally my mentor did the episode that God asked her to do. It was great and it was much needed as so many of our young people are taking their lives these days. God gave her the words she needed to get His message out to all of her listeners. He always gives us what we need. We just need to step forward with faith that He has given us what we need. The Lord is working in you. What are you holding back from doing because you don’t feel equipped? Where in your life can you step out in faith trusting that if He called you He will equip you?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those that are listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much and we are so grateful for all that you do for us. We are grateful that you are at work in us and that you equip us for all that you call us to do. Lord, we apologize for all the times that we have said no when you have called us. We were scared and we ask that you give us a holy boldness so that we are never scared again. Lord, we ask that you help us to step out in faith and trust that if you call us then you have equipped us. Lord, thank you for loving us so well. Thank you for enabling us to will and to work for your good pleasure. You are amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I wanted to let you know about a change I am making to this podcast starting next week. At the beginning of March I am going to start having “Witness Wednesdays.” We have all experienced God working in our lives. We need to talk about those experiences more. We need to share them with others. These miracles can be used for the Glory of God, but only if we share them. We all have a story. Actually, we all probably have a lot of stories. I am helping to lead a Life in the Spirit Seminar and each week someone gives a witness of how God has worked in their lives. Seeing these each week has helped me realize that we all need to be talking about when we have witnessed God in our lives. So, each Wednesday, instead of a regular episode, the episode will be about someone’s witness statement about how God is working in their lives. If you would like to give me your witness, I would love to record it. You can email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow! Have a blessed day!