Day 10 – God’s Responsibility
Brother Lawrence said that “when he failed he did nothing other than acknowledge his failure, telling God, ‘I will never do anything right if you leave me alone; it’s up to you to stop me from falling and correct what is wrong.’ After that he no longer worried about his failure.”
Many Christians become discouraged over consistent failure in overcoming some ingrained sin or unChristlike habit. They fall down, ask God to forgive them, dust themselves off, get up and move forward . . . and fall down again.
They wonder: What’s the use? Am I making any progress at all? Is it worth the effort? And they give up trying.
Brother Lawrence takes a different approach. Somewhat comically, Brother Lawrence places the responsibility upon God!
“God, if you leave me to myself, I won’t make it. I can only be and do all you want if you enable me. So it’s up to you, Lord, to keep me falling and transform me into the person you want me to be.”
He isn’t denying his own responsibility. He simply sustaining a higher confidence in God’s ability to change him. He admits to God that he has failed to do or say or think what God desires. He then affirms again God’s responsibility to change him.
Since Brother Lawrence has resolved this issue, he no longer thinks or worries about his downfallings. Leaving his personal transformation in God’s hands, he finds inner freedom.
His gaze is upon God to do what God desires.
How often is our fixation upon our troublesome attitude, our besetting sin, our unruly response, our repetitious failure?
The end result is that we are sin-centered or failure-centered or doubt-centered or worry-centered, rather than God-conscious and Christ-centered and Spirit-connected. It’s the wrong focal point.
Lift your eyes to heaven. Fix your eyes upon Jesus. Trust the Holy Spirit to enable you to take the high road. Believe that God will carry you through.
Action Step: When tempted or discouraged, why not try using the prayer of Brother Lawrence? “Lord God, I will never do anything right if you leave me alone. It’s up to you to stop me from falling and correct what is wrong.”
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
