Your personal responsibility and the will of God
Your personal responsibility and the will of God:
A very obese woman who also had many other health problems was asked by her doctor to try and work on her weight. Her surprising answer to the doctor was that “the Lord willing, I may lose weight”. Your personal responsibility and the will of God go together. Most of the time, some Christians use “the will of God” as a pretext when they fail in exercising their responsibility. These Christians think that God’s will for their lives is totally dependent on God alone. One’s total commitment to Christ should not be a substitute for personal responsibility such as thinking and undertaking some specific actions. A committed Christian must always think and demonstrate appropriate responsibility.
There can be two extreme categories of Christians. The first category is the ‘superspiritual’ who emphasizes ‘complete trust in God’. They disregard everyday wisdom, judgment and the use of common sense. They like quoting scriptures like “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding…..” (Proverbs 3:5); “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God…..” (1 Corinthians 3:19). Using these scriptures out of context result in inappropriate decisions and disappointments.
The second category is the ‘logical’ group. This category emphasizes the use of the mind. They believe that ‘God helps those who help themselves’. These people, before long, neglect the elements of faith and trust in God and the Holy Spirit. They rely so much on self and when they fail, they become depressed and bitter. These two extremes will not help anybody.
We require faith to know the will of God for our lives but this does not mean that we should neglect our personal responsibility of using our minds. The scripture above (Proverbs 3:5) emphasizes that we should not lean on our own understanding- it does not mean that we should not use our mind and understanding. As Christians, we should seek enlightened wisdom using our minds and other God given resources. This enlightened wisdom emanates from God’s word, some natural science and the direction of the Holy Spirit. From the ongoing discussion, we can infer that God’s will and personal responsibility go together.
Secondly, we should be ready to use the world’s generated benefits which are not in conflict with God’s word and His will for our lives. We now have at our disposal great technologies which we can use to fulfil our responsibilities as we rely on God for His guidance.
Moreover on your personal responsibility and the will of God, we should always commit our activities to God and rely on Him to have His way. Sometimes, God may violate natural laws for our benefits depending on our faith. Peter was able to float on water just like Jesus did. God told Abram to sacrifice his son as a test of his faith in God. We must never forget the God factor in this life of walking in His will.
In summary, we must exercise our faith in God and play our responsible roles. Indeed, God’s will and personal responsibility go together. Faith goes with works. God has also given us the responsibility to develop our minds (intellects) for use. Faith must not do without intellect and intellect must not do without faith. Sometimes, we may walk by faith without intellect but we must never walk by intellect without faith. However, it is important to train our intellect to be guided by the wisdom of God.
