God's Desire in Me

Philippians 2:13

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (NLT)

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. (NIV)

Rewriting this from the perspective of a letter from God personalizes it much more:

I am working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Me. 

God doesn't save me and then leave me to fend for myself and try to figure things out of my own. He follows through and gives me the desire and the power to accomplish what He wants me to accomplish.  Notice the word "desire" is used first.  I have to first have the desire to get something done before I even consider it doing it. Once that desire is there, God gives me the power to accomplish it.  

I want to share a testimony about how this verse became real in my life several years ago when we were in Jacksonville. The church we attended participated in Angel Tree which is a ministry of Prison Fellowship.  For years, the same ladies worked it together.  They would put out the tree, collect the gifts, and then throw a party for the children and their families to come enjoy and pick up their gifts.  Well, it so happened that this particular year, soon after we started attending, these two ladies were unable to do it because of health issues in the family.  A notice was placed in the bulletin, week after week requesting people to step up and take over.  They needed at least two, and only one had volunteered so far.  I started feeling this tug to volunteer, but I kept pushing it aside.  I would say, "Well if it's in the bulletin next week, I'll volunteer." Of course, I didn't and it showed up week after week. The tug kept getting stronger.  I finally decided to follow through and let them know I would volunteer.  Boy, I did not realize what I had just signed up for! The other lady and I met with the ladies who'd done it for years in the past. They had great suggestions on how to make it work.  The time came for us to divide up the work.  The other lady chose to do the organizing of the names and gifts which left me with planning the party.  Now, party planning is not my thing!  Just ask my family.   I do not enjoy planning parties, and here I got stuck with doing one.  Supposedly it had been a big deal for these families in the past, and they looked forward to it...no pressure!  Needless to say, I went home stressed.  The ladies were very helpful in giving me what crafts and items they had leftover from previous parties, and they had lots of great ideas to get me started.  I had to plan activities, entertainment, food, decorations, etc.  Long story short, we got more donations of food than we knew what to do with.  Even though I couldn't get the Children's Worship Team to sing and dance for the kids, the entertainment and craft ideas fell into place, and I had lots of help with decorating. I was so nervous the day of the event, but I was so blessed in return after having met many of the families and talking with them.  They were highly complimentary of the party.  Unfortunately at the time, I didn't publicly give God the credit He deserved for that.  God is the One who should receive the credit for that party being such a blessing for the families.  It was His power and strength that pulled that party together.  I was reminded of the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 where Paul, in talking about God choosing not to remove his thorn in the flesh, states what God speaks to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."  My weakness is the perfect opportunity for God to shine through, and I certainly experienced His power and strength through this opportunity.  I'm thankful I finally followed through because I would have missed out on a huge blessing if I had continued to run from what He was telling me to do.  

I felt God put the desire in my heart long before I finally did something about it.  That desire continued to burn and grow until I couldn't ignore it anymore.  Does that mean I follow through now every time I feel God leading me to do something?  Nope. You'd think I would have learned. I still go back to the old me and try to push Him off with some excuse about how I don't have time or I can't do what He's asking me to do.  Moses made excuses when God asked him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, and the Lord was very direct with His answer. There are times, I feel the Lord saying something similar to me in response to my ridiculous excuses.

                Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the 
                past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." 
               The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? 
               Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help 
                you speak and will teach you what to say." 

When God gives me what I need to accomplish His will, I have no excuse for being disobedient.  I have to follow through with that desire in order to experience God's power in me helping me complete what He's called me to do.

Father, thank You for Your work in my life.  Thank You for first giving me the desire to do what you want me to do and then the power to accomplish it.  I'm sorry for ignoring you so often when I feel you calling.