You or Him? Furthering God’s Plan.

by Dave Kahle

“How much should I expect God to do, and how much should I do?”

           I just fielded that question from one of my CBIG members. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that question, and I had asked it myself dozens of times. I believe it is one of the most asked questions by Christian businesspeople.

           The specific circumstances that give rise to this question occur every day in all kinds of situations.  In this case, my CBIG member was pondering a cash flow situation. Should he call all the late-paying customers and encourage them to write a check, or should he just pray about it and let God do it?

           It could be anything, problems with a customer, decisions about employees, strategic decisions, etc.  There is no end to the situations and the occasions to ask that question.        

           That so many Christian businesspeople so frequently voice that question indicates that the solutions are elusive.  It may be that there is no definitive answer to the question, and that it varies from person to person and situation to situation. There are, however, some broad guidelines we can use to guide us in the answers to the next time the question pops up.

           Indications from Scripture

           Let’s go all the way back to Genesis and the early days of creation.  You’ll recall that God put Adam in the Garde of Eden in order to “work it and take care of it. “ (Genesis 2:15 – NIV)

          Notice the sequence.  God created the earth and the Garden of Eden, and then gave man, in the person of Adam, the charge to work what God had created and to take care of it.  God wanted Adam to occupy himself with engaging with God’s creation, so He created a specific piece of His creation and put Adam in charge of it. 

           A few passages later, we see him giving Adam a specific task: To name the animals.  (Genesis 2:19) God brought the animals to Adam, and Adam named them.  Teamwork!

           Notice that the task given to Adam required him to interact with a specific piece of God’s creation, the animals, and resulted in several things:

           * A higher level of organization and sophistication. Before, Adam and God could not even talk about the animals as there were no names.  Now, they could. When Adam completed the task given him by God, the result was a more challenging engagement with Gods creation, and a higher level of complexity and sophistication. In a sense, Adam continued to work with God in the continuous process of revealing/developing creation according to God’s plan.

           * While the scripture doesn’t indicate this, it’s common sense to expect that successfully completing the task had an impact on Adam. Adam exercised his God-given creativity and began to develop his character and skills.

           *  God worked with him on the task, and in so doing, created a venue that deepened the... CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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