Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase comes by the strength of an ox. Proverbs 14:4
I tend to like things clean and tidy. I like to have a clean house, a manicured yard and all my ducks in a row. This is partly my personality but I have discovered it is partly due to a problem I have had with perfectionism. I regarded perfectionism as a righteous attribute but I was sadly mistaken.
Life cannot be perfect. In our Christian lives, we pursue holiness and godliness but ultimately, our pursuit needs to be Jesus. If we are on the pursuit of ‘becoming’, we’ll miss the journey with our Father. Just as in my pursuit of perfection in my home and yard, I missed out on living.
As this verse says, we may have to contend with a little mess sometimes to actually come to an increase of some sort in our lives. This applies to our homes and our spiritual life. Our children will have freedom to ‘increase’ in their lives by having a home of peace and not perfection. Our spiritual lives become encased in a rut of tradition when we keep God in a box.
God wants out of the box of our lives. We think when we keep Him in our safe little box, that is the best place for Him. That may be a safe place in our mind, but no increase will come to our life if we do not give Him liberality to work in our lives. Much increase comes when we abandon our agenda and give God place to work.
Total abandon to God says “It’s not about me, It’s about You, God.”
It’s not about us anymore. If our trough is clean, we are saying that we want to live in our comfort zone. God did not call us to live in the comfort zone. He called us to live in the ‘obedient zone’. Obedience is to willingly do what God has called us to do. We need a willing heart to do God’s will. Our priorities need to be God’s priorities. We will increase when we pursue God… when we pursue His way of being and doing.
Prayer:
Jesus, I desire to live a life pleasing to You. Help
me to not get caught up in the performance of life. I desire to live in Your
presence. I ask for a willing heart to walk in an obedient attitude to what
You have called me to do. Thank you that I do not have to attain a certain
level of perfection for happiness or success. Help me to rest in that. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.
Wanda
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