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"God so craves relationship with a being that He created who would choose Him that He has staked His reputation on us to use the power of choice for His good no matter what kind of bad comes our way. Absolutely reckless, wild and wonderfully filled with love is this relationship in which we have the chance to partake!"
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 146.
Reckless and wild. That's what God's plan for salvation of this world is really all about. Why is it reckless and wild? Because He is banking on you and me to live in the fullness of who He says we are. Anything less than this and God's plan for salvation falls completely apart.
I have heard hundreds of sermons that push the notion that salvation of those lost in this world is up to us. In a sense, it is. What I'm starting to realize is that the action that preachers are getting us ready for is exactly what makes it possible for us to fall into victim thinking. God's plan of salvation might hinge on us taking action, but I think we are being told to move out in ways that just aren't that effective.
I happen to believe that if each and every follower of God were to act in a way that demonstrated who God sees us to be, the world couldn't help but to be attracted to God. Way too much time is being wasted doing in hopes that our actions will make identity evident to those we come into contact with. In other words, hitting the streets to evangelize is often used as a method of proving that we are followers of this God that loves us. It's like we believe the more we do in the area of sharing Jesus, the better we will look to those God wants to save. Maybe this strategy worked in the past, but I just don't think it is working all that well in today's age.
I do believe that God is serious about people getting to know Him. I also believe that we have taken that fact and developed an action plan that we hope will make who we are something God can get behind. That is utterly backwards when it comes to how I see God working in the world today. Whether it be at our jobs, with our family, or any with any role we play in this world, using action to make identity happen is what allows victim thinking to take over in victimizing ways.
Action is critical to any plan working in this world. Things don't happen by just sitting by and watching the wind blow. We have made action the focus when it comes to God's plan coming to fruition. God sees it differently. God wants action to be empowered by identity. It is when we know who we are that what we do takes on a power we could never muster up on our own accord.
When we know who we are, we exude a confidence that is hard to ignore. When we rely on actions to prove who we are, success in what we do makes confidence turn to arrogance. The world loves confidence and hates arrogance. I think God feels the same way as the world does. Arrogance divides and separates. Confidence has the ability to draw together in ways that makes God's plan more readily attainable.
When we know who we are our circumstances just don't impact us quite like they did when we were working to make an identity happen. Standing on the solid footing of a God given identity makes it possible to weather storms in a way that people admire and are drawn to. Standing on that same solid footing of identity makes it possible for times of plenty to be seen in a way that is just as attractive as when we weather the storms that come against us. Identity is the key. We had better know who we are. We need to be walking in the power of that identity in all that we do or victim thinking will eventually be the result.
The way God sees you has nothing to do with your talents and abilities. Your relative success in life sheds no light on who you are in God's eyes. The potential you have in who you see yourself to be means nothing to this God that made you. God wants one, and only one thing from you. He wants you! He wants to relate to you. He wants you to choose to love Him. You are obedient as you live in the knowledge of who you are to this God that loves you. Action that isn't from this place of obedience isn't an obedience that will have the kinds of impact God is banking on from you and from me.
Read with me now today's Bible verse.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5 (ESV)
We are God's Children. Jesus died to give us a standing before God. That standing is just like God's son. We are sons and daughters of the King. As I pondered what God wanted me to take away from our reading today, I felt like God wanted me to read this verse from His perspective. I have always seen this verse as being about us and the children we have. God wanted me to apply today's words as though He is the parent and we are the children.
This made me realize the significance God places on the position of being His Child. The very first line of the Psalm we read today says that children are a heritage. The word used in the original language of the Bible for heritage has to do with inheritance. God sees us as something of value that will be passed on when the time is right. We don't earn an inheritance. An inheritance is granted. Working to receive what God wants to freely give is such a victim making proposition.
Our reading also says children are a reward. We need to stop and be in awe of the fact that God sees you and me as a reward. That's a reality that is so very difficult for me to comprehend. Why would God see me as a reward? What have I done to reward God with my actions? The answer to that question is NOTHING! None of us have done anything, nor will we ever do anything that would make us a reward to Him. The mere fact we are His children makes it reward enough for this God that loves us. We need to be living from this place of confidence or all our actions will be hindered when it comes to effectiveness.
God loves His children. He wants a quiver full of them. Just like a quiver filled with arrows, each one is selected for a purpose that only the archer knows. The arrow doesn't tell the archer what to aim at. All the arrow does is be an arrow. At just the right moment the arrow is turned loose and if the archer is any good, it hits its target dead on.
Action isn't what will make God's plan happen. It is as we let God be god in our lives that who we are takes on a power that can't be matched by our actions in this world. Isn't it time to stop telling the archer how to do His job? Isn't it time to be drawn back and released toward the target the archer has determined? Isn't it time to know who you are and let that knowledge empower what you do in your life today?
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