His and Hers

God is my dance partner.  I have my roles, He has His.  I make my moves, He makes His.  We then respond to one another in kind, built on the foundation of His grace, not my merits. This is my experience with God, made possible through Jesus Christ.

All the blessings of freedom, joy and peace I'm enabled to enjoy today are from God through His willingness to reveal Himself, in spite of my own lack of resources to gain that understanding apart from Him.  Naturally, I'm ill inclined to abandon my ways of living and getting my needs and wants met.  My natural propensity is to get them met in my own ways, without surrendering to God.  Out of the self-sufficient operation mode, I go about my day involving various tasks in pursuing a sense of worthiness, significance and value by what I do, what I've done, what I'm planning to do, who I know, who knows me, what I own, so on and so forth.  Pretty much anything outside of my identity in Christ is where my natural tendency leads me to feed off of.  The Bible calls this the flesh, or the sinful nature - the part of me that is alienated from God, but trying to live the kind of life God wants me to live, outside of Him.  Whether I acknowledge that God exists or not, I can still strive to live the life God wants me to live (a life of peace, joy and freedom) outside of Him and His provisions.  This has proven to be futile.  A chasing after the wind.  To the extent I'm living life in the Spirit, where my identity and source for living life to the fullest comes from surrendering to Christ, resting in my identity in Him as the sole source of living which definitively defines who I am - I am free.  I'm walking in the truth of who I am, by walking in Truth Himself, Jesus Christ.

I have a role that is distinct from His though.  I often confuse my roles up with His, or the role of others in my life with His role.  I call this codependency.  

He has given me the gift of free will, the capacity to choose.  And in my relationship with God, there are outcomes, depending on many variables that come into play which aren't all known due to the unseen world.  This includes how I use my free will, through what I choose, and how others use their free will, given the realm of options one is aware of.  What you don't know can sometimes hurt you.  Ignorance isn't always bliss.  Thankfully you'll see below that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault.  

I have a major role to play.  I have a part.  And so does God.  He is sovereign over the end results, which are always rolling in until the final judgment when the Kingdom of God has fully come with the return of Jesus, in victory.  All of creation is a progressive story, which includes my life and yours.

In the following versus, notice the dance paradigm.  I am powerless in and of myself, to make true Kingdom change.  But I am not rendered useless, for I can go to God, who is powerful and responsive.  In going through the following versus while focusing on my role and His role, it's helped me see how vibrant, dynamic and alive this dance is.  It's a synergy of wills, in partnership with the Divine.

See the dance unfold...what is your role?  Discern your part with God, releasing the outcome to Him...one day at a time.  God's will - his good, pleasing and perfect will, will win and prevail in the end - if it hasn't yet, the end hasn't come.  

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."  -Matthew 7:7-8

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  -Matthew 5:3-12

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,

and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 

and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.  Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path.  For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.  Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you."  -Proverbs 2:1-11

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."  -James 1:2-8

Dance on...