God Works In and Through You

I know, who’d thought it. Well, Paul for one thought it and announced it to the Philippians in his letter.

“¹²Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)

I read this morning and frankly was a bit confused when I started with verse 12. Accordingly Paul says that we are to “work out your own salvation”. What work am I to do?

Well, he is not talking about doing works to gain salvation, he is referring to the discernment of gaining salvation. And as I have already determined and written here, it is through faith in God and His grace that lead to my salvation and justification in Him. So working out my own salvation is just that, having faith in Him and believing in His grace and accepting salvation that only He provides.

Now getting to verse 13 above. I am to work out my salvation and allow God to do works in my life from within me. Once I have accepted Him into my life and heart in the demonstration of my turning to Him, He begins to manifest His work throughout me from within me. I have to allow God to take over me and work for “His good pleasure”. I am His instrument and must allow for Him to do the work He has set out for me. I am just the hands for Him and am to take on that which He would have me take on.

When we allow God to work in and through us, we are provided that which He knows we will need. Recently I had Jehovah’s Witness come to my door. I understand how it can be a bit stressful to engage with someone you don’t know and certainly do not know how they will react or engage in the encounter. The hardest thing is knowing what to say to make things friendly and conversational. Well with God working in me and the relationship I have with Him I openly engaged in conversation with them and was able to share His word with them just as they were sharing His word with me. It was such a lovely conversation that as they were leaving they provided me with their personal phone number to reach out and engage more when the moment struck. Nervousness was felt on both sides, yet God worked in me and I suspect in them to remove the nervousness and create a great conversation and engagement.

It is not up to me to work for my salvation, yet it is up to me to work thanks to my salvation. God works in me to work through me to reach those in my sphere. I have to be willing to allow for that work and take it on as my armor in this world that is fully against me.

What work are you doing in this world? Are you do the work to just get by and survive and somehow earn something in return? What if you worked as the instrument of God and allowed for His work to manifest in and through you in any and all situations?