God Only Asks Us To...

II Kings 5:2 “…a little maid
...waited on Naaman’s wife.”

Psalm 123:2 “so shall our eyes wait on the Lord”

These two verses triggered a new meaning to the word “wait.” It brought to my attention a group of words that are not normally considered synonyms, but they all represent the same attitude toward God.

I have an old beat-up, handleless slotted spoon in my kitchen. I love it. I use it almost everyday. Its shape and size are perfect for whatever I am cooking. It humbly and quietly waits in the utensil bin until I'm ready to use it again.

I have another tool that I rarely use. It's still in a box that proudly shouts out all its wonderful uses. It CORES and PEELS and SLICES apples within minutes! But it takes so long to set up and sometimes the apples don't stay in place that I'd rather use a small paring knife. It's too much work. All that boasting doesn't mean a thing. It's not very useful to me.

Throughout all of His Word, the Lord quietly and patiently only asks us to “give-in” to His will. He draws us and calls us. He only wants us to be a willing tool or vessel for His use.

From salvation to heaven, he says over and over to yield to Him. He knows the best for us. We would do good not to fight Him, but to let the Lord have His way in our lives. We won't have rest or peace if we let our selfish pride and desires get in the way of His will for our lives.

We need to recognize that we are nothing – sinful creatures that don’t deserve anything He gives to us. We don’t deserve to be chosen on “His team.” We should be eternally grateful for the tiniest attention He gives us. We should be willing to give our all for Him.

When we recognize our position before Him, then we are a faithful servant, useful for His work. Just like that old slotted spoon, we can be used to do great things. His power is able to flow through us. When we are nothing, then we can do anything through Him.

He doesn’t ask us to “do” anything, but to …

COME
John 6:37
"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;
and he that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out.")

HEAR
Psalm 143:8
"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;
for in thee do I trust:
cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;
for I lift up my soul unto thee."

BELIEVE
Mark 9:23
"Jesus said unto him,
If thou canst believe, all things are possible
to him that believeth."

HUMBLE
James 4:10
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up."

SUBMIT
James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God..."

TRUST
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding."

REST
Psalm 37:7
"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him."

OBEY
Hebrews 5:9
"...He became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey Him."

FOLLOW
John 12:26
"If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am,there shall also my servant be:
if any man serve me, him will my Father honour."

PRESENT
Romans 12:1
"I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service."

WAIT
Psalm 25:5
"Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:
for thou art the God of my salvation;
on thee do I wait all the day."

HONOR
Proverbs 3:9
"Honor the LORD with thy substance,
and with the firstfruits of all thine increase."

BOW
Psalm 95:6
"O come, let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the LORD our maker."

Can you find other "synonyms" of what our attitude should be toward our Creator, our Savior, our Lord?