Day 35 – Transformed by Staying
Brother Lawrence said that “our sanctification depends not on changing our works, but on doing for God what we would normally do for ourselves.”
We sometimes get the notion, “If only I were in a different place, in a different relationship, in a different job, in a different setting, then I would be more spiritual, more godlike, more holy, more cheerful, more myself.”
These thoughts are all wrongheaded. What usually happens when we make these changes, the faces around us may change, but the problems within us are still the same.
We learn from Brother Lawrence to bring God into what we’re already doing and let him use our current life situation to change us.
To illustrate: Instead of thinking that if you worked elsewhere you would be a better Christian, bring God into your job.
Instead of feeling frustrated that you’re in such a un-Christlike atmosphere and you’re struggling to maintain a good Christian witness in that environment, bring God into your job.
Allow all those people and situations around you to serve as tools to fashion you into the image of Christ. Pray that God will give you the grace to work with integrity and be a good witness in spite of your difficult surroundings.
The same thing could be said about where you live, your relationships, or choices you’ve made.
This is part of Paul’s consideration when he wrote, “Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them” (1 Corinthians 7:24).
Changing our setting is not going to change us. But doing whatever we’re doing for God and serving the people around us – that’s what changes us!
God’s people were once exiles in Babylon and longed to go back to their homeland. But God spoke through the prophet: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7).
God transforms us by staying in the environment in which we already find ourselves – bringing God into that setting – and then he transforms that environment through us.
Action Step: Bring God into what you’re already doing.
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
