Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and He will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3
“In all your affairs lean solely on God’s providence, by means of which alone your plans can succeed. Meanwhile, on your part work in quiet cooperation with Him, and then rest satisfied that if you have trusted entirely to Him you will always obtain such a measure of success as is most profitable for you, whether it seems so or not to your own individual judgment.
Imitate a little child, whom one sees holding tight with one hand to its father, while with the other it gathers strawberries or blackberries from the wayside hedge. Even so, while you gather and use this world’s goods with one hand, always let the other be fast in your heavenly Father’s hand, and look around to make sure that He is satisfied with what you are doing at home or abroad. Beware of letting go, under the idea of making or receiving more.”
Francis de Sales (1567-1622) in Introduction to the Devout Life (New York: Vintage, 2002) 114-115. Francis served as bishop of Geneva. He unified Catholic and Protestant followers of Christ by focusing everyone on deep faith in Jesus Christ. We should follow suit in the divided world in which we live today, so that our lives help others find peace in trusting in God’s providence (my word for 2017)!
This excerpt seemed fitting today as I have meetings with God’s servants at Made to Flourish (by phone) and at the Kern Foundation outside Milwaukee on the integration of faith and work. Our aim is to help pastors at large, but also specifically within the EFCA, to make disciples whose Sunday faith is lived out in their Monday through Saturday work.
And what a beautiful word picture Francis paints linked to our work. How often do we let go of the Father’s hand thinking we need to gather more of the world’s goods? In reality the best way to position ourselves to live generous lives is to “lean solely on God’s providence” and work in “quiet cooperation” with our Heavenly Father, trusting Him to give us “the measure of success as is most profitable” for us.
When we live this way, our lives bring glory to God, and we serve as agents of peace and contentment in a world filled with unrest and greed. When we work like this, our posture in whatever profession we toil, reflects kindness and dependence on God’s providence, and shows others around us how to live satisfied and generous lives.