Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. – John 8:28
If you’re ever feeling stuck, or want to check whether the life you’re living matches up with the potential you have inside, a good question to answer is:
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
That’s because the world is a completely different place when you’re no longer looking at it through the spectacles of fear.
Writing a novel, learning Spanish, skiing solo to the North Pole, cooking through all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the art of French Cooking”, quitting your job to start a band…
Suddenly these dreams become projects which become goals that you spend every waking hour working to fulfill.
But as inspiring and empowering as this M.O is, that’s not how the Word operated…and it’s not how you are designed to operate either.
His confidence and boldness came from simply doing what He saw the Father do.
That’s it.
He did nothing of Himself.
Nothing.
If He saw the Father doing something, then the Word simply copied what He saw.
If He saw the Father not doing or saying anything, then the Word kept schtum and did nothing as well.
And because of this relentless focus on simply imitating what He saw in the Father, the Word transcended the limits of success to attain something more valuable:
Significance.
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Because whether it was healing a blind man with mud mixed with spit, or chatting with a Samaritan woman at a well, or letting His dear friend Lazarus die of sickness (despite having the power to heal him with a thought), or choosing a thief and a traitor as one of His 12 disciples, or staying silent whilst being falsely accused before Pontius Pilate, or being battered, bludgeoned and crucified by ruthless Roman centurions…the Word’s focus was extremely simple.
I do nothing of Myself.
So in this Kingdom way of doing things, your business isn’t really the doing of things.
Instead, your business is learning how to see what the Father is doing, and then just doing what you see Him do…no matter how contrary it may appear to those around you.