My push mower doesn’t run very well. It starts ok, but it barely runs at all. I’ve tried tinkering with it, but therein lies the problem. I don’t know anything about engines. I know nothing at all. So after spending several hours on it, it did the unthinkable: I asked for help.
My good friend Greg Ratcliff is one of those guys that can fix anything. So, I described the problem and he suggested a possible solution. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. So, he offered the use of his workshop and expertise to fix it sometime. Thank you Greg!
I think the same issue holds true with our spiritual lives. We know they aren’t what they could be, but we aren’t quite sure how to ‘fix’ them. So we ask an ‘expert’ in the area, who suggests a few things to try. They may help, but they likely won’t do the whole job. So what do we do? Here is Tozer’s suggestion to the solution in chapter 7 of The Pursuit of God. He says that:
man needs to stop tinkering with his soul and look away to the perfect one. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.
So that’s it. We need to put our wrench down and let Christ do His work on and in us. It is simply not possible for a man to change his own heart. But it is possible for the Creator to change His creation. As Paul wrote:
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
Are you frustrated with your pursuit of God? Do your own issues keep getting in the way? Do yourself (and God) a favor, and give up. Don’t stop working hard to pursue Him, but stop trying to change yourself and let Him do it. He knows what He is doing.
Put down your wrench.
