The Hand of God

The past few days I've been thinking about something my friend Steven said a while back. Steven is the pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. He said that he wants his ministry at the church to operate in such a way that if God chose to remove His hand from Elevation, then it would fail miserably. Now, of course, I'm not the pastor of the third fastest-growing church in the United States, but I have my own life and my own personal ministry. Lately I've been thinking about what would happen if God chose to remove His hand from my life. I don't mean this in a God-is-picking-on-me type of way, but I mean, what if God did not let His favor rest on my life for a time? Would things be different? Would I react differently to things? Would my life fail miserably? Unfortunately, I don't think my life would fail, for the most part. I'm not saying that I live like God doesn't exist, but lately I don't think I've been depending on God for my every provision. I think that I rely entirely too much on my own ability and my own strength, as well as those of my wife, Sarah. I'm not bragging or being proud, but God has given me enough talent and drive to survive and thrive in life without relying completely on Him, which, I think, has been my greatest struggle recently. A life can not be truly lived to its fullest until that person has emptied himself of himself and filled the void created with the love of Christ.

Abba Father, please help me to quit relying on my own strength and abilities to achieve success in my life. Help me to remember that true success is only found in obedience to You, and that You have called me to empty myself of me and fill myself with You. Please guide me to live my life in such a way that if You removed Your hand from me, I would be an utter failure. Help me to love You the way Jesus loves You. Amen.