Things that block God's work

God is at work in the world.  He has many ways that He gets His work done.  God does not "need" our help.  God is God!

But one of the way He chooses to accomplish His will on the earth is through us.  Yes, us!  Weak, fallible, messed up humans.  

God partners with us to get His work done in the world.

Now His work is not only outer accomplishments.  Does He want us to feed the poor, heal the sick, feed His sheep, and so on?  Yes.

But there is a deeper work that God is about doing: heart work.

God is in the process of transforming our hearts so that we may glorify Him.  We have nothing to offer in and of ourselves.  When we are born again, at least we have a chance!  How?  It is through the supernatural power and work of the Holy Spirit that resides in us who gets all the glory, all the credit, for any holy work that we do, outer and inner.

I have seen and learned that the outer work is the easier of the two.  People can pretty much make their minds up to go about doing good things in this world.

But the inner work of heart transformation runs much deeper.  And there are seasons when there is little or even no outer work to be done.  Just like it takes time for the seedling in the ground to grow before it produces any fruit, so too will we have seasons of growth while we wait on God for further direction.  These are seasons when we may not be doing many outer works.

We are not meant to produce, produce, produce 24/7, 365 days a years.  There are days, seasons, even years of hidden work that God does in our hearts where seemingly nothing is happening.  People tend to look at outer works only.

Thankfully, God sees our hearts!  And thankfully, only He knows the hard work we have allowed Him to do in our hearts during seasons where others seem to be flourishing while we are still waiting, in obedience, on Him.

But there will come a day!  God will line up the timing perfectly.  He knows when we are ready to be "cut loose" to do the outer works for Him.

He is working out of us all kinds of useless stuff like pride, self-sufficiency, worldly thinking and ways, etc. when we give Him the time to do so.

He is working in us His character qualities of love, peace, patience, self-control, and more.  

We must be patient in God's economy because He is never, no never, in a rush.  Why would He be?  He has all eternity to work with us!

But we need to know the ways that we block this inner work that God wants to do in our hearts so that we can stop doing them!

We block the Holy Spirit's work in us when we:

- refuse to forgive those who wrong us
- choose to disobey God and do our own thing (rebel)
- run ahead of God, or lag behind
- focus on others or self more than Him
- do not commit to spending time with Him daily, not just at church once a week
- keep giving into sins that we know are wrong
- keep making excuses for our sins instead of confessing and repenting of them
- doubt God's love for us
- give up too soon
- idolize family, reputation, career, or anything else instead of worshiping God

The list could go on!  But you get the idea.

If we simply choose to obey God no matter what, as consistently as we possihly can by His power that works within us, then we will continue to grow, move forward, and be transformed into His likeness.

Only we can block the work of God in our lives.  We are without excuse.  We cannot blame anyone else.  God holds us respomsible.  

No matter how harsh reality can become, we are still responsible to love and worship and obey God.

No matter how long He takes to get us to the outer work season, we must never give up our faith or trust in Him.  

So it comes down to this.  Do we really want to let God do His inner work in us, prepare us, for the days ahead?  Or do we want to just do the outer stuff to make us feel good about ourselves?

In order to be content with His timing, we must be willig to stay obscure, if that be His will for us - whether for a season or for a lifetime.  Remember, life goes on after this one ends!

In this culture of "followers," "influencers," and so on, we must stand strong in our commitment to Christ above all.  Only He knows each and every heart.  Do you really think God is impressed with anything on social media?!  God is God!  

This is partly why I believe heaven will be full of surprises.  All of those "famous" ones, if they're there at all, may have little to show for themselves after God gets through testing their works.  And those whom we never even heard of will be there with miles and miles of rewards and blessings for all to see.  Yes, it will be quite the shocker, I believe, when we get there.

But I digress.

Life is short, kiddos!  We need to decide today for whom we are living, whom we are serving.  We need to decide whether or not we are willing to, of all rarities, wait on God for a season or longer.  If we go by the world's order, its ways, we may accomplish a lot but will the work last?  

It's not too late yet!  There is still time to repent!  As long as you are alive, God is not through with you yet! Won't you join Him in His work - both inner and outer?  A life lived in communion with God is a life well lived.  Get on board!  There will be much suffering, ridicule, many years of waiting, and stuff that you will not like!   But Jesus is so worth it.  You will not be sorry in the end for going the way of the Lord!  Let's get on with it already!  Let's let God do His supernatural work in our hearts and transform us so that He will be glorified and we can do His works in this world!

Dear Lord.  This world gets crazier by the minute!  Everywhere we turn, there is change - and mostly for the worse!  But when we focus on You, Lord, You give us Your perspective on things and empower us to do the work that matters - both inner and outer.  Help us, Lord, to obey You in all things and give in to Your will and ways in our lives.  Help us to honor and trust You, O God.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.