Should we Help God do His Will?

Oftentimes, we see that wrong is happening around us and believe that it is our duty, as Christians, to help God do His will.                 

I’ve been there!                

Let’s be honest!            

When someone we know is not doing something the “Christian way,” we feel the need to correct them.           

We tell them how to better follow God and live more like a Christian ought to live.                 

It’s understandable!            

You know God’s will is not what people are doing nowadays, and you just want to get things in line with the truth in God’s word.                    

Though, is that what God called us to do?                

Does God need our help to get people to follow His word?                           

Should we Help God do His Will?                 

There is a passage we can learn from in the book of Ezra; chapter 9&10.                

I believe it gives us the answer to this question…                 

“When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.” So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day. And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity. Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this, should we again break Your commandments, and join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or survivor? O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!””               

‭‭Ezra‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.                      

In this chapter,           

Ezra found out that, not long after God mercifully and miraculously brought His people out of their captivity in Babylon and brought them back to Jerusalem, some of them decided to bond themselves in marriage to the pagans that dwelt in that land.                 

This was a big deal because marriage makes two hearts, one.                    

So, Israel was accepting opposing beliefs and letting them mingle with their belief in the LORD.               

If we look back at what happened before the Israelites went into captivity, they were completely unfaithful to God.                

Their unfaithfulness began because different beliefs got mingled with their beliefs until their faith in the LORD YAHWEH was dull and void.              

Yet, they forgot not long after being miraculously released from bondage, what put them in that bondage to begin with.                   

The voice of this passage, Ezra; was a scribe and a priest.                  

Furthermore, he was the only person who was dedicated to upholding God’s word, throughout the duration of the captivity.             

He was the one bringing God’s word back to Israel and teaching God’s people what they had forgotten.            

Pay close attention to Ezra’s response, after he heard that the people so quickly forgot how God delivered them and were ready to depart from Him again.                

This is how Ezra handled it,       

When people did things that were not God’s will.                

• He fasted and mourned.                

• He sat down astonished, yet sought God in prayer.         

• He took responsibility; as if he was the one who had sinned, and pleaded on behalf of the people.                      

This response revealed something about Ezra…            

He trusted that God would have His will be done; without Ezra having to make the people do the right thing.                 

Notice that Ezra only taught the people, he didn’t try to force them to do everything in the manner which he instructed.             

He was fully aware that he had no control over the people, and he did not even try to control the situation!                       

This is how Ezra did NOT respond when people failed to do God’s will:               

• Tell off and yell at all those who were disobedient.                  

• Kick them all out of Israel.               

• Kill them and their pagan partners.              

• Cancel the people and unfollow them on Instagram.                               

He didn’t take this into his own hands, yet he still took responsibility…                

Ezra sought God; brought this failure to God and trusted Him to respond.                   

He just trusted the LORD enough to hand it all over to Him.           

Can things still change if we decide to not try to control the situation and simply let God take care of it?                

I know that we believe that nothing will happen and situations won’t change unless we do it ourselves.             

I’m here to show you the truth!                  

God doesn’t need us to do anything to make His will be done.                

He is God!            

LORD of all hearts, minds, powers and situations!                

We see this in Ezra chapter 10.                                  

“Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.””

‭‭Ezra‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The people who were sinning came to Ezra, full of remorse!            

They all made families with pagans;             

Agreements with what is separate from God.               

Yet, their hearts were changed and they came repentant to Ezra, ready to turn from their sin and make God the center of their attention again.           

Ezra never made them change!                    

He just mourned and was upset.                 

He didn’t blow up on the people, He just talked to God about it.              

He prayed and trusted God, while going to God on behalf of those who were going astray!              

God changed the hearts of His straying children!                   

Ezra didn’t need to control a situation that God already had under control…             

So we don’t need to control situations either.              

God has them under control!            

He doesn’t require us to make things change.             

God is GOD!                   

We are not able to do what God does!                  

We can bring our cares to Him, pray for those who are lost; love His people regardless of their failures to understand, as God loves us regardless of our failure to understand.                

He doesn’t ask us to move any mountains with our own power…                

Yet, our faith in Him can move mountains.              

Faith, not strength!                  

Our trust in the LORD does more than we could ever do with the power we have through manipulation, fear or any other worldly power that we utilize.             

“Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.”                                   

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.         

““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.”                  

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.             

Should we Help God do His Will?           

We really don’t need to!               

God fights for us, so we don’t need to try and make things happen; He has it all under control.                   

Whether it’s a circumstance that is making you nervous for your future, or the heart of someone that doesn’t know Jesus like you do yet…                      

Respond like Ezra and know that the LORD has it all taken care of!                       

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.””                              

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.                   

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”                   

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.