Christians refer to God as Father, and that is why I like to use parent/child analogies to help understand the relationship between God and us. The point I made in the last post is so foundational to the GEO Principle, that I want to devote at least one more post to it.
Several years ago, I had a huge clean-up to conduct in my yard. It was fall so there were leaves everywhere, and rain had packed the leaves down so raking was a real chore. There was also pruning and trimming do be done. It was Saturday and I went to work right after breakfast.
About an hour into the job, I asked my 5-year-old son to help. He eagerly joined me. He grabbed a kid-sized rake we had and began stroking the ground. The leaves were so damp and packed-down, that even after 45 minutes of work, my son's little arms had accomplished very little. Most of the rest of the day, he stood and watched, and talked to me. He did help a little more, providing a useful third hand when I was stuffing lawn debris into a leaf bag.
At dinner that evening, my boy declares "I cleaned up the yard!" After a moment, he added, "Dad helped." I laughed. My boy was taking credit for doing most of the work, but of course, I had done nearly all of it. But that was okay; I got what I really wanted out of the day. When I asked him to help me, it wasn't because I needed his help. It was because I wanted to spend the day with him. I wanted us to have the experience of working on a big project together, even if I would end up doing most of the work. Although we did clean up the yard together, the experience wasn't so much about yard work as it was about precious father/son time.
As I recalled that day years later, it occurred to me that this story about me and my son also describes the relationship between God and me. God provides, but he asks us to help, just like I asked my son to help me that Saturday morning. And sure, I respond by really working, but my work is minimal compared to what God is doing. So, at the end of the day, I can say I worked for my food and rent -- the same way my boy could honestly claim to have cleaned the yard -- but it is really God who provides, just like it was really me who cleaned up the yard.
And just like I didn't ask my boy to help me because I needed the help, God doesn't ask us to work because he needs help. He gives us work as an opportunity to grow closer to him, the same way I was seeking a closer relationship with my son.
If you have worked at a job for a long time with a colleague, you know how working together can be a great way to build a friendship. Many good relationships are built on the job between colleagues, especially if they have been through ups and downs together.
It was okay for my son to say that he cleaned the yard, recalling my role only as an afterthought. But as adults, we should know better. God provides. At best, we can claim to co-provide. It is certainly fair for us to acknowledge our own role, but it is best for us to honor God's role. The real purpose of work grows more apparent when we accurately acknowledge God's role and our role in it. God wants a relationship with us and he give us work to develop that relationship.
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