During the spring of 2020, I moved back to my birth town. During this time, my bedroom was not just a place to sleep. It was my office too. The room where I spent most of my time. I rearranged some furniture and put my desk right in front of the window so I could look outside and enjoy the view of the fields. I like looking at something green, you see.
Not long after I moved, a good friend of mine came to visit me. But he didn’t come empty-handed: he gave me a gift. A beautiful plant. It was small but promising with beautiful dark green leaves. I put it on my desk and watered it from time to time. And enjoyed it. It grew and grew until I had to put it in a larger pot. And when the time came for my friend to get married, I picked up the plant and tried to put it in my car. It worked but took some effort. I gave it to him and his wife as a present. This plant that came so small had grown into this beautiful plant which leaves can cover a small table.
What role did I play in this plant growing? An exceedingly small one. The only things I did was make sure it could receive the sunlight and water it from time to time. Creation itself produced the growth – the work of our Creator.
This picture of a growing plant is very descriptive of how God works. Just like I cannot produce the growth of a plant, I cannot produce change in my life or someone else’s live. I can read every self-help or help-others book there is and apply all the principles, but nothing will really change. Yes, I could see results. Very impressive results even. But not any lasting fruit. Men can only bring about superficial change. But when God works through a man, true transformation takes place.
When Paul talks about the way he sees change happen in the lives of people, he describes what he does as follows:
For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me (Colossians 1:29 NASB20).
Just like we cannot produce growth in a plant, Paul did not try to bring about change by using his human capabilities. He did not work and strive as a human. No, he allowed the power of God to work through Him. It is God who causes a plant to grow. It’s God who brings true transformation to a human life.
Paul was a living example of this transformation. If there was anyone who did not qualify to be used by God, it was Paul. He even calls himself the greatest of all sinners! Paul had literally come to a point where he didn’t see a way out anymore. And in that very moment, he encountered the grace of God. He encountered God’s power, and this made him the most effective minister in the early church.
You might ask yourself how you can be effective. How you can see change in your life or the life of someone else. How you can contribute to the expansion of God’s kingdom. Well, let me encourage you. God does not look for qualifications or abilities. And no matter how much you learn or how much experience and expertise you develop, those things will never do the job. When God works, He works according to His power flowing through you. His grace that you receive and that overflows out of your life. God does not look for those who are qualified. He looks for those who are available.
If you want to see God’s power change your life and the lives around you, do not focus on yourself. Focus on Him who works through you, Rest in Him and surrender to Him and you will see what you have never even thought was possible!