Rejoicing in What He Does...Not on What I do

 One of the things I am always trying to figure out is how come I ended up where I ended: in Western PA...

I mean, I know how it happened.  What I don't know is why.  I typically ponder this more intensely around our wedding anniversary.  It happened again this weekend, when my Mother in Law gave me two pictures of Dan from 30 years ago.  Boy, was he cute!!!  I stared at the young guy on those pictures and my heart flooded with emotion.  That's the kid I fell in love with...I said it aloud in the car, and Dylan heard it...to which he said:  thank goodness you fell in love.  Who knows where I would be now if you hadn't?

Dylan's words didn't hit me at that moment, but now that I'm thinking about it again...boy...

Then, today, just minutes ago, I read the post of the day in the devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, and there, it says:

"The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7: 38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1: 7)"

Chambers concludes saying: "It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him."

I often feel guilty because I think I'm not doing enough work for God and His Kingdom.  Reading this made me think...realize...remember...that it is not about me.

Like Chambers said, it is not what I do for God what matters.  It is what He does through me as I stay in close communion with Jesus, and within His Light.  I can fill my days with busy work "for God's Kingdom," but if my relationship with Jesus is non-existing...my work is futile.  If I don't have Him, I have nothing...everything I do or say means nothing...just noise. (1 Corinthians 13: 1)

Adopting Dylan might seem like we "did" something, like what James says in 1: 27, right? "look after the orphans..." But, we didn't really do anything.  God did it through us.  Everything that happened along the way to adoption, took place because God orchestrated it.  We were just His instruments.  We truly placed ourselves in His Hands and He did it all.  When He planted the idea in my brain that I should apply to a scholarship to go to College in the United States and I went ahead and applied behind my Father's back...when he made Dan choose to go to Clarion for his undergraduate, even though he had other options...when He planed for Dan and I to meet 1 week before his graduation...when He decided we were going to get married and struggle with infertility...when He led the way through the adoption road, making it smooth and possible...The Almighty Architect of our destinies was unfolding a plan concocted long ago, so one of its outcomes would be for Dylan to be here with us today, filling our lives with joy and madness until our cup overflows.

Looking at the events of Dylan's adoption from the perspective of how God put us in this circumstances and that by His Hands, His mercies are new every day, give me a sense of peace and freedom that is unexpectedly refreshing.  It's not what I do.  It's not how successful I am at service.  It's not how much I accomplish.  It's all about Him.  My job is to stay in His Light and under His Wings.  May I always remember that.  In Jesus Name.  Amen!