Preaching to Myself

             You have probably heard the phrase, “You are preaching to the choir,” which means you are speaking to those who already agree with you.  There’s another phrase, “I’m preaching to myself,” which happens more often than I would like to admit. 

That was true of last Friday’s blog, which focused on those prayers where God answers, “No.”  We’ve all experienced those moments, but I didn’t realize that I would experience them again so soon.

This past week, I was supposed to attend a conference that I had been looking forward to for months.  I had been praying about the conference and how it might help me to fulfill the purpose that I believe God has given me in my retirement years.  However, due to an unexpected problem, I could not attend, which seemed to be contrary to God’s purpose for me. 

After my initial disappointment, I began to take my own advice and sought to understand God’s answer.  I began with a self-evaluation.  I thought my motive in going was to improve the “works” God had prepared for me to do.  However, upon reflection, perhaps a part of the reason for going was to build myself up.  Perhaps pride had more to do with my motive than I had thought.  All I could do with that revelation was to repent and seek the Holy Spirit’s help in overcoming that sin in my life.

I’m not sure that was the only reason that God said, “No.”  I still believe that God has prepared works for me to do (Ephesians 2:10), so I will keep moving forward until He says stop.  I just need to keep my eyes and ears open for where and how He might be leading me forward.  I believe that the key to success is following His plan and not my own.

When God says, “No,” we always need to evaluate our motives for asking, but we also need to consider how He is working and how He wants us to join Him.  His plans will always be better than ours, so I’m looking for where He is leading me next.  I’m confident that it will be “immeasurably more than all [I] ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20 NIV84).

Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 3:20

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