Opportunity!

Opportunity!

1 Corinthians 3:7 AMP

[7] So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.

It is easy to think that you are a part of a big project, or something amazing. It is easy to rely on human applause or approval as a measure of your importance or relevance. It is easy to think that you are indispensable, when you are the financier or brains behind a worthy project. However, as you read the verse above, a few things become clear, and the first for me is that you can only be a part of anything, and not the only part. You may think that without you, nothing can be done, but the verse above makes it clear that the result you see is the output of different parts all working together for the common good. It was never going to be to God's glory if a man could just walk in and claim credit for whatever was achieved. 

Paul understood this clearly when he spoke to the church in Corinth here. Men had raised altars to the men who had impacted their lives, and without really blaming the men of Corinth, it was necessary for Paul to correct the wrong notion that men could now replace the One who actually brings change to the lives of men. I must be careful of anyone or anything that seeks to take the place of God in my heart. God is a jealous God who will not give His glory to another, or His praise to any graven image. He gives us a measure of His Spirit so we can thrive and carry out His assignment, but we must not presume to take His place in the lives of the people we have been sent to. The work is His; the platform to serve is His; the lives to be blessed and impacted belong to Him; the vessel to be used, who thinks s/he is indispensable, also belongs to Him. 

Where, then, is the place for self-sufficiency or pride? How does a man with limited time and resources ever think that he is equal to a limitless and powerful God? We will all walk this path, sow the seeds, hopefully the right ones, and others will come and water the seeds. Hopefully, the seeds all grow to full maturity and bear the right kind of fruit, but both the sower and the waterer will leave the scene when their work is done. The sower and the waterer are mortal and limited; the One who actually ensures that the seed grows and leads to fruit is eternal. Long after man has ceased to exist on this side of eternity, He will continue to be God. He can raise and equip a man from anywhere to achieve anything He wants. My availability is my greatest asset. If I will be a blessing to my generation, and even when I am gone, the secret is in connection to the God of miraculous progression. Would you surrender your life to Him today? God's time of favour is here.