Seeing the fruit
A wise coworker recently shared this insight she has gained over the years: contrary to our wishes, God doesn't have a sense of obligation to report back to us.
When we do anything good -- are involved in a ministry, perform a random act of kindness, play the Good Samaritan, or just follow through in obedience on an impulse we feel is from the Lord -- we secretly want some kind of confirmation that we've done the right thing. We want to see the fruit of our work. We're results-oriented, conditioned to value efficiency as a high goal, thus, we gotta know what happened.
God doesn't often oblige. He's not concerned with being accountable to his shareholders. I'm increasingly seeing that being a follower of Jesus means learning to embrace mystery; to accept the beauty, intricacy, and wisdom of the magical unknowns, not in a complacent lazy acceptance, but in a life-giving surrender to a power that is above our own, and a wisdom that far transcends the working of our minds.
When we do anything good -- are involved in a ministry, perform a random act of kindness, play the Good Samaritan, or just follow through in obedience on an impulse we feel is from the Lord -- we secretly want some kind of confirmation that we've done the right thing. We want to see the fruit of our work. We're results-oriented, conditioned to value efficiency as a high goal, thus, we gotta know what happened.
God doesn't often oblige. He's not concerned with being accountable to his shareholders. I'm increasingly seeing that being a follower of Jesus means learning to embrace mystery; to accept the beauty, intricacy, and wisdom of the magical unknowns, not in a complacent lazy acceptance, but in a life-giving surrender to a power that is above our own, and a wisdom that far transcends the working of our minds.
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