By Allen White
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue
to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in
you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13
(NIV)
I grew up
with the impression that after God saved me, it was pretty much up to me to
behave. I picked up a great deal of “fear and trembling” from the church I was
raised in. That may or may not have been their intent, but it certainly stuck.
I have found that if it’s all up to me, well, that’s just too much pressure.
I’m not that good.
This
passage gives me hope. God works in
us to work out our salvation. No
where does this verse imply that we work for
our salvation or that we work to keep our salvation. God is at work in us. Those
impossible tasks like “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become
angry” (James 1:19) become something that God does in us. All we need to do is
let God do His work. Maybe that means pausing long enough to ask God what to
say or what to do rather than just reacting. It takes supernatural power to
live a godly life.
What does
God need to work out in your life today? What issue keeps coming up in your
relationships at work, at home and in other parts of your life? Ask God for His
power to help. He will.
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