Empty Hands
Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will set your path straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
Our human spirit always wants to create our own plans, based on expertise we have ourselves or can gather from available experts. To gain the approval of our congregations, we rely on consensus built using politics, persuasion, or persistence that wears the opposition down. Then, once we have approval, we lift up the plan to God and ask Him for His blessing. In fact, this is just the opposite of what God wants us to do!
According to Scripture, God has a very low respect for "human wisdom". In fact, He uses very strong language to discourage us from relying on anyone's wisdom other than His. Instead of coming to Him with hands filled with plans of our own creation, God wants us to come to Him with "Empty Hands", humbling ourselves and asking Him for His direction before we proceed with planning of any kind. Then, as we proceed, He wants us to rely on His guidance along with the guidance of "much counsel" to stay on His path for us.
So, as we proceed with our plans to grow our people or develop our places, let's remember to go with Empty Hands to God the Father and ask Him what to do . . . to His glory!