Yesterday I missed church because of illness. In my quest to practice the presence of God I have given God responsibility for my life therefore God is the one to blame for me not going to church. Right?
Of course not! Giving God responsibility for our life doesn’t relieve us of responsibility for our free will actions.
Psalm 127:1…”Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”
Read that again. The builders keep building, even though God is in charge of the house. The watchmen keep watching, even though God is guarding the city.
This principle applied is that we are to keep doing our jobs, even though we’ve given control to God. We give our career goals to God, but we still show up for work. We give our academic goals to God, but we still study. We give our relationships to God, but we still spend time with friends and those you love. We give our health to God, but we still work hard to maintain it.
If giving God responsibility for our life doesn’t eliminate our responsibility, what does it do? Something much more exciting! When we give God responsibilty for our life He empowers us to obey and frees us from the bondage of results — because even though we’re still working hard, we’re no longer trusting ourselves for the results, we’re trusting God for the results. He is there with us to empower our obedience!
Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, “God is my co-pilot”? I never was a fan for some reason but there is a variation of it that I like a lot better. It says, “God is my pilot. I’m just the co-pilot.”
This is more than just a matter of semantics. It’s a matter of who’s in charge. Our attitude shouldn’t be “God, this is what I’ve decided to do, now bless it.” It should be, “Father, show me what You want me to do, how You want me to do it, and enable me to do it so I can do it in a way that brings You honor.”
God wants to be in charge of our responsibilities. But, giving God responsibility for our life doesn’t relieve us of responsibility, it just puts us in the position of co-pilot and Him in position of pilot on the journey of life.
The Shadowlander 