Get out of the Way

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ~

When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.

This morning as I was reading during my quiet time I felt the Holy Spirit give me a poke. I've read these verses a hundred times, but this time it hit home. Those two little words in verse two, I decided, jumped out at me.

Paul was a brilliant man. He was skilled in the Jewish law. He was a Jew who was also a Roman citizen. He was your typical Type A, successful and driven man. And yet, he deliberately chose to not come to the Corinthian church and show off how much he knew. He made a conscious choice to come to them from a position of weakness and allow the message of Jesus Christ speak rather than use fancy arguments. 

In my own ministry I forget that sometimes. I tend to think I need a fancy plan or I need to be eloquent or have a wonderful program to minister to others. If I don't see anyone doing anything, I think it's up to me to do it. Or that I need to prove myself. And yet, that only leads me to feeling overwhelmed and resentful. I don't need to prove myself. 

The only thing I need to do is to get ego out of the way so that God can move me forward. I need to forget results and share the message of Christ crucified. I need to let the Holy Spirit work, rather than try and do it all in my own strength. 

It was a reminder I needed this morning! My Christian walk is always and ongoing movement of getting rid of myself and allowing God to work. I'm choosing to allow Christ to work through me and allow God to get the glory for any good that happens.