Don't sweat it God, I got this one.

One of my favorite words God uses is “I.” That’s probably pretty simplistic but I love how it puts life on him and takes it off of me. Have you ever thought that maybe God needed your help? Nobody ever says that but sometimes I think we do things to kind of move along his plans. Like maybe he needs us to finish something or start something or go that final yard. So we pitch in and help him out.

The line between doing something for God and doing something instead of God is pretty blurry to me. I have a hard time understanding when I’m going too slow or when I’m going too fast or even really when I shouldn’t be doing something at all. I’ve been writing a lot about that lately and I recently I read something in Ezekiel that hit home. Here are some verses from chapter 36:

1. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor

2. I will show the holiness of my great name

3. I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.

4. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean

5. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

6. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you

7. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

8. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

9. I will be your God.

10. I will save you from all your uncleanness.

11. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.

12. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.

13. I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

14. I will do it.

15. I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them:

16. I will make their people as numerous as sheep

Wow, 16 times God tells the people that he’ll be the one to do the action. (And I only took a few of the statements he makes.) He puts it on his shoulders. Read the list again and look at the things he promises. My favorite is probably number 8. (What’s yours?)

I like that 8 because I have a really hard time following his decrees and carefully following his laws. But thankfully, it’s not just on me. Tomorrow when I wake up, I can trust that he’ll put a spirit in me and move me to follow his decrees. I don’t have to go it alone.

I can rest safely in the words “I will.”