Consulting God

One of the greatest sins that we Christians commit is a failure to consult God. We have gotten so very self-sufficient, so very wise in our own eyes, that we think only we know best. So, in church, we gather our committees and share our “great ideas”, argue who has the greatest idea, and finally decide what we will do. And we never consult God. We don’t even think about consulting God.

We set our goals and develop our plans. They are our plans, we boast. As we execute our plans, if they succeed, we get the results that we can get in our own power, results that man can do in man’s strength. We join forces with those we think will help us on our journey of self-reliance and self-direction. Other church leaders, sometimes another organization is sought for help. We never think to join with God. Maybe a little has been accomplished—but usually very little.

Isaiah 30:1-2 speaks to our problem, the same problem that the nation of Israel had over and over again as they experienced their sin cycle of life. “’Woe to the rebellious children’, declares the Lord, ‘Who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.’”

It is interesting what we see Jesus saying in John 5:19—that He never takes initiative on His own, but first consults the Father to see what He is doing, and then He does what the Father is doing. We simply need to look to Jesus to see what He is up to.

Our own plan of action requires no faith, except faith in ourselves, for we generally figure out how we will assemble the needed resources to get our job done. Our activity in our churches is not spiritual, but driven by our own fleshly ideas and skills. God is altogether left out. The height of folly occurs when we decide what we want to do and then expect God to bring it into fulfillment. We are on our own agenda and expect God to intervene. When it doesn’t happen, we scratch our heads and wonder why God doesn’t deliver.

We need to learn from Jesus—look to see what the Father is doing. Inquire of Him. Consult Him. Then when we see what He is up to, we launch out to do the same. When we watch Jesus, we see the Father and we understand what He is doing. When we do this, we are beginning to get off our own agenda; we are moving to God’s agenda, and wonderful things can occur when we get on God’s agenda. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” That is what can happen when we work under His power and direction.