Resumen
Partnering with God through grace means aligning with God’s objectives rather than your own, and then relying on his grace instead of your own effort to get there. In this Grace 2023 Conference session, Sara Grilliot defines partnering as cooperating toward a mutual and common goal, the way a business partnership or a marriage does, and sets it against the works-oriented culture that keeps asking what did I do and what did I get for it. She anchors the teaching in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God’s grace is sufficient and his strength is made perfect in weakness, and works through 1 Peter 5:5, 1 Corinthians 3:18 and 19, Proverbs 3:5 through 8, Philippians 4:11 and John 14:27, closing with the grace and peace salutations that open the church epistles.
Transcripción
What Partnering with God Through Grace Means
I’m really excited to be here with all of you this morning. It’s been an awesome weekend so far. We still have more to come.
So I’m gonna be talking to you about partnering with God through grace. And I thought a really good place to start would be to talk about what is partnering. So partnering means that we cooperate. It can mean having a mutual and a common goal. An objective of advancing a common mission or common interest. So a lot of times when people think about partnering, they think about a business, a business partnership, a married couple of course. That’s a partnership as a lot of us who are married know.
And in both of those arrangements, there’s a lot of working toward alignment that happens, right? What are we trying to accomplish? What are we gonna have for dinner? Like there’s a lot of working toward alignment in those arrangements. Well, what about partnering with God through grace? Think for a minute about that kind of alignment.
It’s an alignment toward God’s objectives. It doesn’t have to do with worldly pursuits or things that maybe happen on a day-to-day basis. It’s really, it could be, it could be. But think about it just in a bigger way, aligning toward God’s objectives.
My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee: 2 Corinthians 12:9
So let’s start with why is partnering a really awesome idea? So turn to 2 Corinthians 12:9. We’ll come to this verse a couple of times, but let’s start here. 2 Corinthians 12:9. Here it says.
So there’s a couple of important keys that I want everyone to keep in mind here. God says that his grace is sufficient for us. He says that his strength is made perfect in our weakness and that we have the power of Christ that will rest upon us.
Living in a Works-Oriented Culture
So we live in a pretty works-oriented culture. Would most people agree that that’s pretty much the case? Yeah, I’m seeing a lot of head nodding, works-oriented culture. It comes in a lot of different forms though. You have a lot of people who, maybe they volunteer for a charity. Religions obviously have, think of that as being kind of works-oriented. But it extends into a lot of other things too, like family obligations can be very works-oriented sometimes. Professional pursuits can be very works-oriented at times.
And there can be an overemphasis sometimes on self, like what have I done? What am I doing? How am I helping in a physical kind of way to move things forward? What did I do, right? Like what can I say that I did? What did I get for it? That’s a big one too, that people often focus on. What do I get for it? So I did X, where’s my Y, right? Like where is it? I did all these things, I’ve been working so hard. We’ll get a little bit back to works in a minute.
A Leadership Team That Stopped Chasing Individual Performance
But now let’s focus on a little bit about how does that relate to partnering? And I have an example. I was thinking about this a little bit. I’ve been working in business for, I feel like my entire life, but not really my entire life, and have had a lot of leadership roles and have had a lot of leaders, like I know a lot of all of you have too. And I have worked a lot on executive leader teams. So those teams are incredibly performance-driven because those people do not get in those jobs without having an incredibly performance-driven mindset.
And I have an example. I was just thinking kind of about leadership and how people kind of operate together in partnership arrangements. And I was on an executive leadership team where the leader of that team was incredibly performance-driven from an individual perspective. So having like a team of, call it eight or 10 people. And the leader was very focused on each individual’s performance. And I didn’t even notice it at the time because you know how life is. You’re just kind of working and you’re trying to perform too, trying to do with the things that you’re supposed to do.
And so every person on the team was judged for what they personally did, whether they met their goal or their objective and how they got there. That team did not do very well. It did not really succeed. And at the time I didn’t really put together why.
But then the team got a new leader and that leader said, hey, that’s where we’re going. That’s the goal. And I want everybody to partner together to get there and kind of set the expectation that it’s not about the individual. It’s about the common goal. And you know what happened? It was actually quite amazing to see.
People started to put their own interests to the side and forgot about kind of lobbying for what they thought was the right thing or trying to be right or trying to make their goal and trying to look good. But instead they started to say, okay, well, how can I help you get to X? Or how can I help you get to Y? Or what can we do together to try to accomplish this goal that we want to accomplish? Very quickly, that team became a bunch of winners. Bunch of winners. It was actually super, super cool to watch.
And so turn to 1 Peter 5:5. That team that partnered and forgot about their own performance ended up having awesome, incredible performance. And you know what? When the team won, nobody said, hey, that was so-and-so that did it. That didn’t happen. Everybody said, oh my gosh, look at these cool things that we did together. We did this together. Let’s go do more of these things together.
God Resisteth the Proud and Giveth Grace to the Humble: 1 Peter 5:5
In 1 Peter 5:5, it says, likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
The examples of the two leaders I gave you, it was not remotely a Christian kind of situation. I don’t frankly really know what leader B. I don’t really know if that person had a religious affiliation or not. But in the end, if you think about how this could apply in a situation where people are following God and are seeking his purposes, I mean, God says it right now. We’re subject one to another. We can partner together, clothed with humility. He gives grace to the humble.
That means that as we’re really not performance-driven in thinking about ourselves and about our own personal pursuits, we have that grace that God gives us and we can win for God.
I mean, there are a lot of pursuits that are really cool. Like I have always loved watching sports because I just love seeing a team succeed. We watched the women’s NBA championship last weekend because I was interested in one of the players. I had heard a lot about Caitlin Clark. She was a star player for Iowa. And so we watched the final game and I just love seeing teams work hard, do well, accomplish their goals together as a team. But the things that we can do for God are just so much greater than that when we partner with him to accomplish goals.
God’s Perspective Is Bigger Than Ours
And we all have our peace in that. And as you think about it, you don’t really know what your peace is necessarily because God’s perspective is way, way bigger, way bigger. Like his perspective is truly, if you think about people talk about global, right? Like his is really, really global, right? Like it’s really, really big, far bigger than we could ever imagine, far bigger than our nation.
Because obviously we get focused on what’s happening in our world, right? Like in our country and our neighborhood in a lot of cases. But God’s perspective is so much bigger. And so when we partner with him, the mission or the goal or the objective of God can be achieved and we might not even know that what we’re doing today is going to affect something tomorrow.
I think about what Rich shared about Moses and how the baby is put in the basket. Like who on earth would think putting your baby in a basket would end up being what it was? It’s just really, really incredible to think about that partnership. We don’t know where God is working. We don’t know how he’s working.
And I think Todd shared yesterday a little bit about swim school, which is a simple example, but it was a big deal for our family. And how my mom, so Mimi said that she was going to come and just observe that day. And the outcome was great for us because now our son is with a teacher who really cares about him, who really is helping him learn. Small example, but it has a really big impact on us. And we don’t know how that’ll play out down the road, but every day we have little things like this.
This past week, our family had a couple challenges. We had a little kind of bug go through the family, which happens, and we have people there that are willing to help us and step in to help us just get through the day sometimes. And that can be so super important.
Humility Is a Big Part of Partnering with God
And turn to 1 Corinthians 3, we’re gonna read 18 and 19. You know, the aspect of humility in this is such a big one because sometimes I know for me, I’ll speak for myself, but you have kind of the tendency to think that, oh, I just need to do more or work harder or et cetera, et cetera. But it’s not about me or what I think or what I should do, right? Humility is a big part of partnering with God.
1 Corinthians 3, verses 18 and 19 says, let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
I mean, that says a lot right there, right? Like we just, we humble ourselves, we become foolish and forget about our own wisdom. And there are, let’s face it, a lot of distractions in life, right? There’s a lot of pursuits that and goals that want our attention. But at the end of the day, that partnership allows us to see something bigger than ourselves come to pass.
Seeking to understand another person’s perspective, respecting someone else’s point of view. Here’s a big one, forgetting about wanting to be right. Right, like that’s a big one. Like sometimes we say, oh, you know, I really think that this is the best way. And you’re partnering with someone on something and you kind of in the back of your mind start to realize maybe you’re right, but instead of just like humbling yourselves to, you know what, maybe you’re right, we’ll just do that. You kind of like double down, like maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m the only one that does this, but sometimes you kind of like double down and you’re like, no, I know that this is the right way. Well, with God, we have to listen, right? And we have to humble ourselves in that partnership to what God thinks.
Trust in the Lord and Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding
And Proverbs 3:5 through 8, I’m sure this is one that everyone is very familiar with. It says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
We have to ask God. We have to get him involved and listen. I wrote in capital, typed, cause I didn’t write any of this stuff. Capital letters, keep your ears open, listen and avoid the temptation to solution because we don’t know the answer. What we need to do is just partner with God and listen and take one step at a time.
The Grace Part of the Equation
So that’s a little bit about partnering. Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 12:9. And let’s talk about the grace part of the equation.
2 Corinthians 12:9. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Life Is Full in Every Season
So grace, life is still very full. There’s a lot of things that come at all of us every day. And it doesn’t matter, I’ve noticed, what season of life you’re in. I’m kind of, I’m technically, I guess, middle-aged now if you kind of like Google it or something like that. So I’ve had the younger part, I’m in the middle part. And I see a lot of the older part too because I have my parents of course are retired.
And it’s really not a lot different depending on your season. I mean, all of us have the same 24 hours in our day and we all have to sleep. If you’re like me, you may have been tempted to think, I only just didn’t have to sleep. How much more could I get done, right? So, I’m like the queen of the doers, I admit it. Like I come from a long line of doers, like how much are we gonna get done?
In fact, my husband said to me a couple of weeks ago, he said, we were talking about, should we go on vacation this year? And he said to me, well, you could just take a week off and I could get a bunch of stuff done. And I thought, what? Like that’s not a vacation, are you crazy? Okay, so I hear a lot of laughing and I see a lot of smiling. So now all of you can relate to this whole idea of doing.
When Life Feels Like a Lot: Pressure and Learning to Say No
And some days, it can feel like a lot, right? Like life can just feel like a lot. Maybe it’s a day when we’re not partnering with God and we’re trying to figure it all out on our own. And it can be like really tiring sometimes. And for different reasons, I mean, maybe there’s some pressure involved. It could be circumstantial, circumstance-related pressure. Like we’ve talked about circumstances and how circumstances can sometimes really get to us.
Maybe it’s financial pressure or an employment situation, maybe a living situation that you’re maybe not particularly happy with, a relationship. Sickness, of course, causes a lot of pressure. Even sometimes just like the normal cadence of everyday life can be busy sometimes and there’s pressure. Maybe it’s self-inflicted, maybe you just kind of like signed up for too much. By the way, I’ve definitely been there.
I’ve had to learn to say, Todd and I have really had to learn to say no in the past couple of years, now that we have our son. We used to just kind of, what came, we would say yes, but we realized that we just can’t do that. Like there’s only so much right now in this season that we can actually handle. But in 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says that his grace is sufficient for us. He says that his strength is perfect in our weakness. So we can rely on him in those times.
The Conditions Are Never Perfect, but Grace Is
I mean, the reality is the conditions are never perfect. They really aren’t. Like I was thinking about, hmm, what would a perfect condition be? Maybe like a Saturday night, there’s a campfire, you got some like friends around, you have a glass of wine. It lasts for like, what, half an hour or so and then conditions are kind of like not perfect again. But the baby starts crying, whatever.
But what we have in Christ and the grace that we’ve been given by God is perfect all the time. It doesn’t matter where we are. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. It doesn’t matter if it’s pressure. It doesn’t matter if it’s the campfire. It’s all the time, all the time.
And as we’ve heard a lot of this weekend, we don’t know the outcome most of the time. Like, let’s just be honest with ourselves. We really don’t know what the outcome is. The FBI thing, like that was crazy, right? Like we don’t know what’s gonna happen. So we’re just better off partnering with God and saying, hey, you know what? I got your grace, I’m gonna do what I can handle because I know that you know what’s gonna happen.
Learning to Be Content: Philippians 4:11
The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:11, not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Just think about that for a minute, content.
So I have, I wear a Fitbit. I’ve worn a Fitbit for like ever. I think since they invented Fitbits, I’ve been wearing Fitbits. The one that I have now has this thing that’s sort of annoying, but it’s called like a stress response and it pops up like all the time I feel like and ask me how I feel, okay? So it’s constantly asking me how I feel, which is very nice. And sometimes I listen and I sort of like scroll through the options and it’s got frustrated and worried and whatever, all the normal things. But one of the ones it has is content.
Content is basically like the absence of anything, kind of. It’s just, you’re not emotional, you’re not happy, you’re not sad, you’re not stressed, you’re not, you’re just kind of content. So I thought it was really, really cool that that word is used in Philippians 4:11. And I didn’t look it up to try to see what kind of definitions were like underneath it all, but I guess it doesn’t matter because therewith to be content, we are just smooth, we’re steady, we’re listening to God and we’re content in the moment.
Say It Out Loud: I’m Not Perfect, I Can’t Do It All
So here is why grace, and I’m gonna make you all kind of like Jackie made people get a little energy. I’m gonna make you repeat after me. My son has a show he watches called Blaze and the little truck, when the little truck says, let’s blaze, you have to yell, let’s blaze. And that means he’s gonna put the pedal to the metal and he’s gonna fly. So we’re gonna do this let’s blaze style, okay? I’m gonna say something and then I want all of you to say it. And I want you to think about grace when you’re saying it, okay?
All right, the first one is, I’m not perfect. I’m not perfect. The second one is, I don’t know everything. The third one is, I can’t work hard enough. Good job, that was a long one, okay. The last one, I can’t do it all. But with God, we can do all the right things. Awesome, you can say awesome, by the way, that can be our last one. Awesome, awesome, all right.
Peace I Leave with You: John 14:27
So I wanna close with a verse that I have written and I taped it to my computer monitor where I stare at all the time, it’s my work monitor. And when I thought about grace and as I prepared this teaching, this verse really came to mind for me. It’s John 14:27, I’ll let you turn there, John 14:27.
John 14:27 says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The world is not gonna give us grace. The world is not gonna give us peace. So we just, it’s better just to accept it for what it is. And know that God does. God gives us peace and we can partner with him. We have his grace and we can have peace in our lives. I mean, Jesus Christ said that because he knew, right? He knew that the world was never gonna bring us peace. Only God and his grace would. And that’s because God knows the end. He knows the outcome ultimately and we can rest knowing that.
And maybe just a little, like, after the fact homework assignment, for those of you who are using an electronic Bible, this is a little bit easier. But just look up grace and peace because as I was thinking about this verse in John 14:27 about peace, I thought, wow, you know, they’re so related to each other. I feel like I’ve seen those two verses, or two words a couple times. When I put it in, I was shocked. It’s like the beginning of every single church epistle. Essentially, I think it’s just maybe one that doesn’t start with that. And enjoy reading those salutations of grace and peace.
It’s very, very cool. Partnering with God through grace is what ultimately will bring us peace. So thank you.
Puntos Clave
- Partnering means we cooperate toward a mutual and a common goal. Partnering with God is that same alignment, but toward God’s objectives rather than worldly pursuits.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 carries the keys of the teaching: God’s grace is sufficient for us, his strength is made perfect in our weakness, and the power of Christ will rest upon us.
- A works-oriented culture keeps score with what did I do and what did I get for it, and that same individual scorekeeping is what made an executive team fail until a new leader set one common goal.
- 1 Peter 5:5 says God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble, so humility, listening, and forgetting about wanting to be right are the practical shape of partnering with God.
- The conditions are never perfect, but what we have in Christ and the grace that we’ve been given by God is perfect all the time, whatever the pressure or circumstance.
- Philippians 4:11 sets content as the goal, and John 14:27 is where the teaching lands: the world will not give us grace or peace, but God gives us peace and we can partner with him.
Preguntas frecuentes
What does it mean to partner with God through grace?
Partnering means that we cooperate. Sara Grilliot defines it as having a mutual and a common goal, an objective of advancing a common mission or common interest, the way a business partnership or a marriage works. Partnering with God is that same alignment, but toward God’s objectives rather than worldly pursuits, and it rests on 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God says his grace is sufficient for us and his strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Why does partnering with God require humility?
Because 1 Peter 5:5 says God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Sara Grilliot points to an executive team that only succeeded once people put their own interests to the side and stopped lobbying for what they thought was the right thing. She names the same habits for partnering with God: seeking to understand another person’s perspective, respecting someone else’s point of view, and forgetting about wanting to be right.
What does 2 Corinthians 12:9 mean when life feels like a lot?
The reality is the conditions are never perfect. Sara Grilliot lists the pressures that make life feel like a lot, including financial pressure, an employment situation, a living situation, a relationship, sickness, and pressure that is self-inflicted, and then answers them with the verse: what we have in Christ and the grace that we’ve been given by God is perfect all the time. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are.
Referencias bíblicas
2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Proverbs 3:5; Proverbs 3:6; Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 3:8; Philippians 4:11; John 14:27
Este texto se elaboró a partir del audio de la enseñanza. Por favor, verifique las referencias bíblicas con su propia Biblia.
