"Don't Just Do Something. Stand There!"

1 Kings 18:15-39

(Day Three in "Experiencing God", Blackaby)

The idea that I took away from the above passage is: God lit the fire. The passage is about Elijah facing off against the "prophets" of Baal to prove once and for all whose God was the True God. Well, 850 of Baal's prophets didn't stand a chance against ONE of Yahweh's. Elijah followed God's lead and impossible things happened--Elijah's water-logged altar was set ablaze by heavenly fire.

As I said yesterday, I am working through a workbook titled Experiencing God (by Blackaby and King), and this passage came up on "Day Three." So far I have been blown away by this book. It has allowed me to really stop and think about Who God is and how He really works. I'm beginning to realize that I've been approaching my relationship with God completely wrong. I've been asking Him what His will is for my life, when I should just be asking "Lord, what is your will?". MY life is irrelevant. God's will should be my focus. 

I find that I am too quick to act on my own. I ask God what His will is for my life and then I get antsy to do something when I don't hear an answer. The problem isn't that God doesn't want to answer--it's that I've been asking the wrong question. God wants me to know His will. He wants to act through me. The problem is, I'm so wrapped up in doing something else that I don't let Him do His will through me. 

The profound insight that I took away from my lesson today is "What are you doing in your life that cannot be accomplished unless God intervenes?". My answer? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I am such a control freak that I've taken the reins in my life and I've attempted to bend God's will to my actions, rather than the other way around. Sure, I might not be demanding to do anything sinful, per se, but I'm certainly not fulfilling God's will by taking control. 

I want to do great things for God, but the fact of the matter is I can't do anything for God. However, if I yield, God may choose to do great things through me. Elijah didn't prove that God was the true God. God did that. Elijah didn't build an altar, pile it high with wood, douse it with water and light it himself. God lit the fire. God used Elijah as a messenger, but ultimately it was God who acted. 

I am finally beginning to realize that God wants me to stop worrying about doing stuff for Him and start letting him do stuff through me. In order to do that I need to stand still, yield to Him, and listen. I need to stop trying to force things along by doing what I think I "should" and start following God's lead. I've realized that I've been selfish and caught up in trying to be a "good Christian", when it's really not about me. It's about God's will being done... with or without me. 

God,

Help me to understand your will so that I can meet you in doing it. I'm going to try to hold still long enough to let you use me as an instrument of your will. Shape me to your purpose. I'm ready to stop trying to shape your will to fit me.

In Your Name,

Amen