The Trench
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Galatians 3:3, ESV.
We have a fence on our property that has an awkward electric fence connection. I suppose I should say, “had.” After being zapped by the electric current for the fifth time in a month, I decided it was time to put the electric current underground and not across the gate. I gathered my supplies—shovel, post hole digger, scissors, wire and connectors. And I started to dig. I worked quite hard at it, actually, and was dripping sweat, but I had just a small divot in the hard ground. I got two buckets of water and poured them in the area, and then kept digging. I was working really hard, but it wasn’t really getting me anywhere.
Enter my husband. He saw what I was working on, and although he had planned to work on another project that day, he went and fired up his tractor. He came around the side of the barn and waved for me to move. He had the front loader attachment on the tractor, and in just a matter of a few moments, he had dug a trench. He barely broke a sweat as he drove the loader into the ground and the tractor did the work of breaking up the hard ground and shoving it aside. We were able to connect the wire on either side of the gate, run the insulated wire underground, stabilize the wire and move the dirt back into place, all in less time that it had taken me to dig that pitiful divot. In just a short time, the electric fence was working again, and the gate handle would not shock me again.
Now, I had really tried, and I had exerted a lot of energy, but I did not make any good progress. I could have cried tears, gotten frustrated and angry, or even thrown a fit, but I would not have made any more progress than a simple shovel and a stubborn woman could do. Enter the tractor. With sixty-horse power and a front loader bucket—it did the work in no time. No effort, no exertion, no sweat, no frustration.
The Holy Spirit is like that tractor in the sense that He has the power and the ability to change our lives. We can try to exert energy and effort, sweat, cry, tantrum, but our results are so insignificant compared to what He can do when we allow Him to work through us. So for today, please put down the shovel of self-effort and allow the Holy Spirit to really get to work in our hearts—He can do it so much better than we can, and we can enjoy the results.
Thought-provoker: Where are we exerting so much effort when we should be surrendering and allowing the Spirit to do His work?
Lord, thank You that You are so much greater, wiser and willing to make the changes in our lives if we would just put down the shovel of self-effort and cooperate with You while You do the work. Help us to be willing to let You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
You can catch up on all of The Summer Adventure Series by checking out Tammy’s blog: http://www.simplydevotions.wordpress.com.
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