Joining GodSample

JOINING GOD

It looked easy enough. The water was cold, but I was amped up and ready to go. Buoyed with a flotation vest and the tips of my skis pointing to the sky, I gripped the handle. As the rope pulled tight, I yelled, “Hit it!” The boat engine roared, and immediately I felt the resistance. Arms straight, I sensed myself coming up out of the lake. Then I did it. I broke the rule of waterskiing 101. I thought I’d help myself get to the surface a little more quickly, so I tried to pull myself up. In an instant, I was coming out of my skis and getting a full nasal flush—I had to let go.

My friend gave me the best and most straightforward advice. “Karl, just lean back, extend your arms, hold on, and don’t try to pull yourself up; let the boat do the work.” The next time I kept my arms straight and let the boat do what only the boat could do—pull me up out of that lake and take me on a most incredible trip—I was water skiing!

We make the same mistake in our relationship with God. Somehow we believe we can get ourselves up and go in our strength. But worse, we think it’s our job to get up or help God in some way—the urge to use our power is strong. This tendency to take God’s role in our lives and try to assist in some way is very natural. In a broken world, we’ve been trained to believe that if anything is going to get fixed or a situation changed, we have to do it. But instead, God invites us to partner with Him, to learn that we are friends of Jesus and that the real power for living comes from joining God.

In resolving to join God, you’re saying yes to living in a new manner that liberates you from striving and trying harder to live the life of a disciple of Christ. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Let this little verse come fully alive in your mind, and it will be one of the greatest epiphanies you’ve ever experienced—it was for me. God wants to reorder your life in a way that trusts, rests, and relies on His strength. Over the next few days we’ll look at how you can join God.

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE:

• Pray and ask God to prepare your heart to hear His voice during the rest of this reading plan.
• Tell Him how eager you are to join Him in the work He wants to do in your life.