HELPING GOD....

Genesis 16:2, And Sarai said to Abram, See here, the Lord has restrained me from bearing [children] I am asking you to have intercourse with my maid; it may be that I can obtain children by her. And Abram listened to and heeded what Sarai said.

Have you ever found yourself cracking your head, trying to figure out how to help God bring His word to pass in your life? It could be words spoken to us in the Bible or personal words of rhema which He ministered to you through His Holy Spirit. Whichever the case, you made attempts to help God perform His miracle because it seemed He was taking too long or because it seemed to your human mind that the task was too daunting for Him. Been there, done that! Lol.

The problem with helping God is that we end up cheating ourselves and getting less than the very best He planned for us. A typical example of helping God can be found in Genesis 16. God had already promised Abraham that He will give him descendants which would come from his own body (Genesis 15:1-6). Sarah was aware of God's promise to her husband. However she percieved that being old she will never be able to concieve and she made an attempt to help God bring His infallible words come to pass. She persuaded her husband to have intercourse with her Egyptian maid Hagar so that she will bear a son in her stead. Abraham conceded and impregnated Hagar Sarah's maid. Hagar in turn began to look down on her mistress and this caused problems in Abraham's household (Genesis 16:5-6). 

Sarah worked a miracle and her mighty miracle had consequences. She suffered shame, agony and unnecessary tension in her home. Suddenly, what she thought will make her joy complete in life became her worst nightmare. The consequences of her actions did not fizzle out with time; read Genesis 16:6-12. The Bible teaches that God in His own time, brought His word to pass by the birth of Isaac and made it clear to Abraham that his posterity will be in Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Ishmael was born after the flesh, man's design and orchestration but Isaac was the son of the promise (Galatians 4:23). Sarah's miracle did not erase God's promise but it wrought avoidable problems. However Ishmael was still made a great nation because he was a descendant of Abraham. The descendants of Ishamel still cause a lot of violent problems all around the world till this day.

Now in our own times, there are many ways to help God. It could be that God has spoken to you specifically about empowering you financially in the coming month. Perhaps, the amount of money/funds he has released into your spirit is too big for your human mind to comprehend and suddenly you begin to strategise on how to work the miracle. He may have told you where it will come from but not how and then you go to the drawing board to draw the "how" plan. You may even resort to cheating/lying which you'd even tag as "wisdom" but while you're working you're magic, God is watching you. It could be that God promised you a contract and then you go out of your way to bribe the awarding panel to bring God's promise to pass. Sisters have you ended up being emotionally attached to Tom, Dick, Harry and Deji because God told you He will cause a good man to find you in 2013? Or the brothers have been with Precious, Grace, Uche and Amaka between Janurary and now in a bid to find their "good thing". I'm sure we all can relate to helping God at one point or the other in our lives. 

The Bible tells us that the gifts of God make rich and He adds no sorrow (Proverbs 10:22). This is the where we cheat ourselves when we help God. We work miracles that bring us happiness for a minute and sorrow for a really long time. You can't help God and still get the total package. Like Sarah it may seem like you've hit your target but it will come with unpleasant consequences in due time. We have come into God's rest and ceased from our own struggles (Hebrews 4:10) but whenever we resort to helping God, we work in the flesh and end up struggling. You can't be wiser than God. He is Lord of everything. I've had struggles, I've tried to help God in the past but I ended up sweating profusely for a long time. It was not until God ministered to me in a special way that I realised there are things only God can do! I've also let God work out His purpose by His Spirit in my life and it was hassle-free. I operated from a position of rest and I was thankful for His grace.

 

We need to understand that God does not need our help to be sovereign. What He says is done is done, what He promises will never fail. It may seem like you're running out of time but God is never late. He's always on time. If God puts a vision in your heart; confess it, dream it, pursue it but be led by His Spirit. Let God guide you. Let Him reign and even if it seems like its taking longer than you expected; let go and let God. We all need to imbibe patience in our faith walk; waiting joyfully on the Lord. In His own time, He makes all things beautiful.

Stay blessed.