I study the Bible to learn about God and His kingdom but one of the tremendous benefits I receive is that I discover over and over again how helpless and powerless I am without Him. For many years I tried to do activities that would have sequential steps which would produce the kind of harvest that I observed in Scripture. I believed that by following certain procedures I could accomplish the same results. However, in the process of following the orderly course of action to do the work, I resisted the events and circumstances that seemingly became obstacles for my desired results. Now I realize that God was the one orchestrating all of those obstructions. I am not clever or intelligent enough to come up with a plan that will bear the kind of fruit that is only produced by yielding myself to Him and embracing the cross. By surrendering to Him in the midst of adversity and allowing the obstacles to be the means of bearing fruit, He produces the harvest. I pray that God will keep me ever mindful of my absolute dependence on Him.
"Abide in me, and I will abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
John 15:4-5
"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
Philippians 2:12-13