Partner With God

By OSU Special Collections & Archives

Thankfully, I have never had to cut down a tree before. But, if I ever had to, I know I would be thankful to live in our modern age where we have chainsaws that make the work a lot easier.

Prior to having chainsaws, people used two-man crosscut saws to cut down trees. In America, crosscut saws were used as early as the mid-17th century. As you can see from the photo above, these saws were huge, and you needed help to weld them.

So, you are probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with God? Well, much like the lumberjacks of the past who used crosscut saws, we need a partner to get our work done. As Christians, our partner is God.

You may not have ever thought about God as your partner before, but, isn't He the most wonderful and able partner you could ask for? YES!! I am certainly grateful to have Him as my partner.

In his book Intercessory Prayer, Dutch Sheets tells us, "Without question, humans were forever to be God's link to authority and activity on the earth. Here we have, I believe, the reason for the necessity of prayer. God chose, from the time of Creation, to work on the earth through humans, not independent of them. He always has and always will, even at the cost of becoming one. Though God is sovereign and all-powerful, Scripture clearly tells us that He limited Himself, concerning the affairs of Earth, to working through human beings."

So, in order for God to work through us, we must partner with Him and do our part. God has the power and He gives us the authority to use His power. It's an amazing partnership. Thanks to Holy Spirit living in us, we have everything we need to use God's power in our lives. We simply need to recognize this, and harness it and get to work for the Lord.

Chris Tomlin, one of my favorite Christian artists, wrote a song about this in 2018 called Resurrection Power. Here are some of the lyrics:

You called me from the grave by name
You called me out of all my shame
I see the old has passed away
The new has come

Now I have resurrection power
Living on the inside
Jesus, You have given us freedom
No longer bound by sin and darkness
Living in the light of Your goodness
You have given us freedom

Listen to the song here:

Resurrection Power

Are you ready to partner with God? ​Think of all you can accomplish! Let's start today.

I will leave you with a beautiful, powerful, and incredibly appropriate quote from St. Teresa of Avila:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.