our works matter

Sometimes it looks like there is no place for a human
achievement in God’s plan.
Man comes to this conclusion, if he thinks that he is
called to compete with God.
Pulling ourselves to more independent life from the
Creator will never get His blessing.
We end up kicking against the goads. Acts 9:5
The harder we try, the more painful it becomes.
Saul was very active and sincere in his efforts, but he
was wrong. Sincerity is no guarantee of truthfulness.
Jonah was struggling with this question.
He disagreed with God in frustration.
“What’s the point of me doing anything when God is
going to fix it anyways?”
Jonah was no match for God to compete with him,
but he was a very important player in God’s plan to
save the entire city of Nineveh.
God told him not be angry.
Jonah argued saying that he has all the reason to be angry
and disobedient. Jonah 4
He could not see the value of his own part in God’s
vast plan.
However, God had chosen to depend on Jonah’s obedience
for Nineveh’s salvation.
Jonah had so much power when he agreed with God
and so much frustration when he didn’t.
Ephesians 2:10 speaks about the “good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Without our agreement those works will never happen.
If that is not an acknowledgment of man’s achievement,
then, what is?