God's Partnership

10.01.11

Zechariah 11.8 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. NIV

In reading this today, I assume Zechariah was speaking in the First Person for the Lord; the heartbreak of God is evident. I was also curious as to who the three shepherds were so I consulted the commentary to see what it had to say…it shrugged. What I do know is this: whether real or figurative, God got rid of them all in one month. I assume they were real people locked up in some kind of unbreakable leadership that needed removed, and nobody thought they would be...

What is happening in your life right now that you need God’s to get rid of? God’s people in Zechariah needed their leadership to change. Many nations are in that boat these days. From what I can see in the narrative, things were bad on the leadership level and the people needed God to intervene. God had a lot at stake with His people and they were forsaking Him at an unbelievable pace. So, again I ask, what is happening in your life right now that you need God to remove? Keep hoping, keep seeking, keep looking, He did it for ancient Israel in one month.

Sometimes what we really, really need is to go through what we're currently going through to sharpen and shape our spiritual senses. So, sometimes God sends us through a season that to awaken what may be sleeping or put to sleep what may be awake. Faith always needs to be awakened and fear needs to be put to sleep... literally.

God is aware of everyone. God knows the hearts of all of His people. The difficulty for us is often we fail to see what is happening around us; and in His love and mercy God does for us what we are impotent to do. It is in the midst of that unknowing that we need to trust Him to get us to where we need to be. That calls for patience, trust, and partnership with God. 

In what we’re going through currently, have we asked God to partner with us? Is God more than just a Friend or a Presence? Is God invited to take control of our business, our relationships, or even our prayers? Partnership with God requires me to do everything I know to do, but asking and waiting for Him to put all the right pieces into place at exactly the moment they’re needed. God can change things very, very quickly. Three shepherds in one month I think is way more than anyone expected.

So what needs to be removed in your life right now that seems unbreakably impossible to get rid of? Friends, trust God in the moment, and look to Him for the right timing of its release or removal. That we can take to the bank. That we can count on. The bottom line is to do what we know to do and then keep on hoping, seeking and looking for God to work. Our expectation needs to be that He will and He does. Three shepherds, or whatever it is, is no big deal for God.