Philippians 2:13
“for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure”.
This is an amazing aspect of christianity that nonbelievers aren’t aware of. It might be true of many believers. God is at work in us. He wants us to work for His will. The amazing part is that He puts desire in us to do it.
The particular denomination I was raised in had a strong emphasis on sacrifice. Monks were in their past. As a young christian I thought God wanted me to do things I did not want to do. My wanting to do it was meaningless. My concept of God wasn’t loving.
I have since come to understand grace better. Today’s passage falls much more under grace. He puts desire for His will in us. How cool is that. The things He wants us to do, He puts desire in us. That’s grace. My earlier denomination seemed to think, “the more suffering the better”.
Of course obedience can be hard on occasion, but that’s not the norm. Not even close. Jesus said we will pick up our cross daily, but that isn’t misery. We would agree to the things we are to deny. At times it’ll be difficult. But we still “want to”.
What’s the result of this? We love Him more. We want to do His will more completely. There is an increase in joy and a desire to love and serve Him.
Part of christianity is sharing our faith with others. The bible says we are His witnesses and sharing Christ can be called witnessing. Like one witnessing an event. We are witnesses of the amazing things God does. This instilling of godly desire in us is a great witness. It shows His power and His ability to work in us individually. It also shows His love for us. Yes He wants us to do things for Him. But He also gives us the desire to do them.
What affect does this have on our psyche? Good things. We all seem to have ways stress or pressure hits us. Having a loving, caring and directing God in our lives would lower stress and increase joy. He can work all for good (Romans 8:28).
This would put some anticipation in us. What next? What does He want to do in and through us? That’s our God.
We no longer need to fear circumstances. Sure difficult ones will be presented to us. But He helps and gives us peace within. We bring our stress and worries to Him. He will assist and give us peace.
Thank You God that You both will and to work in us. What a grand design. You are brilliant and good.