God knows the best way forward
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Sometimes we just need someone to get out of our way so we can do the job. “He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.’”
Most of us don’t like obstacles. We hate it when we run into a lane closure while we’re trying to get to work. We hate long lines at the grocery store. We hate it when our work requires us to attend extra meetings or take some sort of extra class in the evening. And we especially hate it when a better looking person is moving in on the person we like. If only other people would stop getting in our way. You probably know where this is going. When it comes to matters of faith, when it comes to trying to do right in this world, when it comes to doing whatever we can to please our loving God, when it comes to making the world the beautiful place God created it to be, other people are not the problem — other people are not the obstacles — we are.
We live in an “achievement” kind of society. “If you want something done right, do it yourself,” we hear people say. And for that reason it can seem as if everything in this life has to be gotten by a sheer act of the will, entirely by our own efforts and abilities. And yet, in faith, we believe something entirely different. In faith we believe that every good thing comes from God. Every good thing. It doesn’t start with us nor does it end with us. We’re just the “middle-men” soto-speak. And because of that, one of the most important and faithful things we can ever do is to simply get out of God’s way.
And that is important for two somewhat obvious reasons. First, it means that we don’t get to take credit for the good that we do, as much as we might like to. Our egos would love to be satisfied in that way. But the truth is, if we do something “good,” it is because God did something “good” through us. When we keep that idea in front of us it can do nothing but keep us humble and grateful.
And secondly, it also means that no good thing should seem “impossible.” So often we find ourselves thinking about all the good things God wants for this world and we can’t imagine how little old sinful me and little old sinful you will ever be able to do what God is asking. It seems too much. It seems too overwhelming. It seems too high of a mountain to climb. How can we possibly do God’s work? After all, he is God, not us. But that’s the whole point. Once we realize that it is our God who is doing the work, God who is accomplishing it through us — the impossible suddenly begins to seem a little more possible. Our limitations don’t matter as much. The power and goodness comes from God — a power and goodness which can move mountains.
And so the burden is not on our shoulders alone. God is carrying it with us. God knows that best way forward. And God knows what this world needs and how to bring it about. He just wants one thing from us: Let’s always be sure to get out of His way.