Who is in charge?

Becoming a hot fall day, over 90 degrees right now.  The other morning I went outside and it smelled and felt like fall in Central Oregon, brought back memories of those fall days so many years ago.  It didn’t last long, we have more humidity up here, and of course a different environment, but it was nice while it lasted – Carla noticed it also.

She brought me some work this morning.  She brought in about 50 million small tomatoes – cherry tomato size, but different varieties.  There was no way we could eat them all and those that would normally want them are out of town.  I decided to make juice.

I did take the stems off of them, but I didn’t peel them.  The peels are not as thick as regular tomatoes.  The results of putting them through the grinder left the juice a bit gitty.  I don’t mind that, but Carla doesn’t care for it. 

However, we can use them in cooking, soups, etc. and it will be fine.  So, instead of wasting all that fruit, we have 6 pints of juice for cooking.

Now, to watch some football.  

Philippians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

As I read this verse this morning I am struck with a couple of things.  First God began the work in me; not me.  Second God will continue the work in me; not me.

I am an idea person, those that have worked with me can attest to that – and how frustrating it could be for them at times.  I see something that needs changing and I go about trying to figure out how to change it, now.

My patience has never been something I have been long on.  I strive to overcome that problem, and sometimes I succeed, but it is a struggle.  Another problem those that worked with me can attest to.

I can remember going through classes on how to plan – yeah I always seemed to skip several of the steps and forged ahead with my vision, often it worked out fine, but almost as often I fell short of either communicating my vision or following through to the end – because the end wasn’t always specified.

In addition, I am a control freak.  I have to be in charge and get frustrated when I have to relinquish that control to someone else.  I was fortunate that I worked with some outstanding people who overlooked my faults and went about doing what needed to be done.  I worked with some extraordinary men and women who did their jobs well, and accomplished a great deal despite me.

In addition, my attention span is relatively short.  It was one of the reasons I was not a very good investigator, if it took more than a couple of days and didn’t seem to be moving along, I would lose focus.  I would watch those that could move through the morass of time, slogging through the minor details and doing the leather work to get the evidence or witnesses to the crime and seeing through to a conviction and wonder how they could stay so attentive.

Since I knew I couldn’t do it, I was grateful that we had others that could.  I worked with some very good investigators and our departments solved many crimes with good police work.

When I was Sheriff “I” was in charge.  Not in control, necessarily, but in charge.  I was the one that was ultimately responsible for the direction of the office and the outcome of our efforts.  As the Sheriff I had to accomplish things through other people, for a control freak that is not always easy.  Fortunately we had some extremely dedicated people that kept us on track and made the office successful.

As a control freak “I” need to be in charge – and that attitude has carried on into my spiritual life as well.  I realized this morning – not for the first time - that I am only in charge of my spiritual well-being as far as submission is concerned.  GOD is in charge of my growth, I just need to obey and follow Him.

How do I relinquish control when the need for control is embedded in my very fibers?  This is my life, both physically and spiritually, how do I give up the reins to someone else, even if it is God? 

I have to do it; I must accept His directions and the fact He is in control; I have to decide to do it; I have to remind myself, often, that God is in charge.  He will do it HIS way, not at my direction and not withstanding any plans I may have – unless cleared through Him.

I read an article the other day that says one of the reasons we are not seeing revival in America is we want God to do it ‘our way.’  They made the statement that one of the reasons we are not seeing a revival in America that is being seen in other parts of the world, is we want to share in the accomplishment, we want it done in a way that not only glorifies God, but we get some residual benefit to our ego from it.  Instead of asking for a revival we are qualifying what God needs to do – so we can feel good about ourselves.

After all, we are His children and we know what He wants and therefore what He should do to accomplish a revival; and shouldn’t we feel good about ourselves – after all it is our lives and our country.

So we must ask ourselves, what are we praying for?  What is our attitude when we ask God for revival?  What is it that we should be praying for?  Are they the same, or are we trying to tell God His job?

I don’t know about you, but one of the things that just drove me batty was when someone, who had no idea what it took to do my job - enforce the law, tried telling me what I needed to do in a given situation.  If I had followed their advice I, and the governmental entities I worked for, many times would have been sued for tens thousands of dollars. 

They didn’t know what they were talking about; it just wasn’t as simple as they thought.  There are always twists and turns, that if you do not take into consideration, could damage or even destroy your case.

Police officers have to undergo training to ply their profession; it takes time and experience on the job as well as keeping up with the latest court cases to do the job right.  Most officers know their job – and/or have supervisors to guide them - far better than the general public – who haven’t had that training and experience. 

You know, I think I can understand how God feels.

The public depends on the police to know their job and empower them to do so.  They relinquish certain over their lives to the police because they cannot keep up with everything required to control that part of their lives.  Most people are grateful for that and the only time they think about it is when they need the police.

MOST of the time the police make the right decision and when the citizen, needing the police, allows them to do their job, it gets done correctly.  They may not always be happy with the results, but it is what is required by the laws governing the situation.

We need to take the attitude that God knows what He is doing.  We should be praying for a revival so souls will be saved, God will take care of how He does it and the results of what happens after words.  Personal agendas interfere with our prayers and we hamper God if He were to follow our directions.

Yes we can pray for changes, for a clear spiritual awakening, but let’s not tell Him how to do it.

Later, Art :-)