Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (GNT)
One of the projects I was working on was supposed to end at the end of the month. I joined late and was working with the team to move it to completion. As time clicked by, the customer decided they wanted to extend the project. There were some complications that needed to be ironed out and they wanted to safely get to the roll out without a lot of disruption.
I talked to the head of the project (Project A) and told him I needed to roll off. I had another commitment (Project B) scheduled at the beginning of the next month and would not be able to focus my time on this particular adventure any more. He suggested I stay and attend some meetings to help out. I said I would as long as I could.
As Project B ramped up, my schedule became more and more full. One day, I was sitting in on a meeting in Project A and there were some things said that made me pause. I really couldn’t speak into Project A anymore. I wasn’t around enough. As they had meetings and made decisions, I could not provide input, especially if I wasn’t there. Then I started thinking about my reputation. Folks knew I was added to the team to help course correct and while the team was doing an incredible job, I began to worry about what would happen if the project went south for some reason. Would people still respect my work if my name were inadvertently still tied to it?
I was explaining all this to my husband and suddenly it hit me....I’m so glad God doesn’t think this way. We are here, doing his work and sometimes we give him a say...sometimes we don’t. I know sometimes I don’t represent him well. I may want to say all the things I know God wants but my heart betrays me and I stumble and mis-represent him.
The Bible is pretty clear that we are here to glorify God. And that God wants us to participate in sharing Jesus with folks. And he lets us....even though sometimes I wonder if he cringes when we say and do the stuff we say and do. What kind of God would love us so much that he allows us to mess up, involve him in our mess and still invite us to participate in the story?
Recognizing all this makes my heart overwhelmed. It makes me want to figure out a way to do this job I have been given better.....but I can’t on my own. Jesus needs to be calling the shots. He needs to be guiding my footsteps and he certainly needs to be in charge of making my decisions. I can’t do what my heart desires on my own. Only through staying connected to Jesus can I give God the glory he deserves.
Dear Jesus, help me to live today, listening for your voice, following your lead as you lead us in this big Adventure! Amen