"Paradoxical Synergy"
| May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews13:20-21) |
There's the subtle danger that we may think "Oh OK, more of the same..."
But let's not fall into that trap...
Read the passage again... (Yes, do it now!)
Did you read it slowly and thoughtfully? (Umm maybe try it again?)
Look at what He does:
- Equips us with everything good to do His will.
- Works in us whatever is pleasing to Him.
How?
- Through Jesus Christ (who came, died in our place and rose from the dead)
Who is promising this?
- The God of PEACE who resurrected JESUS who is our Great Shepherd
At our elders meeting we were discussing this "paradoxical synergy":
God works in us: He doesn't invade us, but He allows us to work with Him.
The energy is His, the brokenness is mine
The grace is His, the failure is mine
The goodness is His, the trust needs to be mine
The initiative is His and the response (aided by the Spirit) is mine
The results are because of Him and the glory is His too.
What is the "bottom line"?
God loves us so much that He will work in us to help us do His work and become like Jesus.
Sometimes we try too hard to do it ourselves.
We need to marvel at the mystery of "paradoxical synergy" and get out of the way!
