And then He does it all by Himself …

The details of life are the whispers of a Savior.

And we unearth the layers of His language as we live our lives each day. It’s true that the more we read through the Bible the more and more layers we discover. Not like secret meanings, but new personal applications,  new “aha!” moments, new revelation as we read it again and again. Just this 13th time through Jeremiah I keep being amazed at the things I never noticed before.

When we rightly read daily life the same is true. When we read our days through the lens of His Word we discover new treasures, new applications and revelations, new nuances and “aha!” moments each and every day. God reveals Himself to us through life. But we must put on our Word-glasses each morning so we can see Him clearly, detect His fingerprints on our day.

I keep thinking back to how God sold our house. The details. He’s in them, and I keep marveling at the layers of His language. Yes, it is true, the fact that it sold on a crazy weekend when I didn’t even clean, spoke volumes to me about living authentically, opening wide my life and letting the world into all my “lovlimess” — the true, real, imperfect person that we often hide away for family only.  Perhaps a spotted-mirror life is attractive after all? Perhaps that’s the kind of life the world might like to see from us? Honesty, humility, authenticity.

But the more I reflected on His provision this week, the more I see another facet: That He wants all the work to be His. That He wants to get all the glory. That it’s not about what I can do for Him but always what He does for us. 

This great work, a miracle really, that I’d been praying for all year. We’d fasted, considered, discerned (schemed even if I’m honest) — and then He went and did it without our help.  *smile*

A great reminder of the part we play. 

The part of a child helping Daddy. He does call us to partner with Him, to work at His side, to engage, to labor. Why?

Because He loves being with us. The same way that Jeff lets Dutch & Heidi “help” him work in the garage. They aren’t actually contributing much, probably making the work way harder in fact, but Jeff loves to be with them and loves to teach them along the way.

Our Dada-God does the same. He let us partner with Him this last year in an adventure of faith selling a house. I’m thankful for that and certainly don’t regret a single minute of hard-work that went into it. But sometimes we (I) also need the reminder:

• All the work is God’s.
• He lets us work with Him because He loves to be with us and loves to teach us along the way.
• When we start to think it’s our responsibility to accomplish something He lovingly reminds us He’s got it covered.
• And just in case we might be tempted to touch the glory, He does it all by Himself so there can be no mistaking who deserves the praise.
• God isn’t pleased when we do stuff “for” God, He’s pleased when He can powerfully display His power on our behalf. When we trust Him enough to let Him.