Once we see that God’s work requires man’s cooperation, we will realize that man has an important place in God’s work. This is quite different from our prayers, which often include the thought that we are nothing and that the Lord can work without us. This is not God’s thought. Instead, we should pray, “Lord, without us, You cannot work.” This is a prayer that is according to the truth and according to God’s heart. Although God the Almighty created the heavens and the earth, those who know God will say, “God, You can work only when You have us. Without us, You cannot work at all.” If there were no people on the island of Taiwan, how could God preach the gospel? Throughout the years we have realized from our experience that even though God is almighty, there are things that He cannot do. His inability to do certain things relates to us in our experience. Although God can do everything, He cannot force us to move. He may move in us for many years, but we still may not rise up to take action. God can do everything in the universe, but He cannot force us to rise up early or read the Bible. God needs our cooperation; He cannot do many things in us because, even though He is almighty, there are many limitations in us.
With God there is eternity past; with man there is eternity future. As God journeys from eternity past to eternity future, there is a bridge of time. This bridge of time is really man himself. God wants to cross from one side to the other through man, but many people have a sign that says Not a Through Street. When God makes a demand on us, we often shake our head to indicate that the road is blocked. When God makes a demand, we often respond, “But I have a wife, children, and...” Our “but” means that God cannot pass through us. In eternity God is not under any restriction, but in time God is restricted. If we will not allow God to pass through, God cannot do anything in the church life. We restrict God the most.
Nevertheless, God is patient. When He cannot get through in us, He will wait patiently and call us again. If we do not listen to Him, He will wait some more. He is very patient. He will wait until we are touched by Him and say to Him, “O God, I will say yes to You. I will no longer say but or Not a Through Street. I will only say Amen.” When we hear the Lord’s word and forsake everything to follow Him, we will not be like the disciple who said to the Lord, “Permit me first to go and bury my father” (Matt. 8:21). God’s principle in redemption is that man would cooperate with Him and that man would be a bridge for Him to pass through.
We should never consider this as a doctrine only. On the whole earth, regardless of when or where, God will be expressed as long as we are willing to say, “God, I am here. I want to be a smooth way to let You pass through.” God always works in the principle of incarnation, that is, in the principle of God mingling with man.
Some brothers like to ask, “How do we give a message and speak for God?” We can study this matter and discover thousands of requirements, but we cannot ignore this one basic question: Do we allow God to pass through us and mingle with us? If we do not have a clear understanding about this point, regardless of how well we speak, our speaking will be useless. We must see that God requires man to cooperate with Him in His work; man’s cooperation is indispensable. Without man’s cooperation, God’s way is blocked. If we prostrate ourselves before God and allow Him to pass through us, God’s glory will be expressed.
In our fellowship with God and in our reading of the Bible and prayer before the Lord, will we answer His call unconditionally when we hear His voice? Or will we say however and but? How many of us can say yes to the Lord, or “Lord, I will take this way”? Our usefulness in the Lord’s hand depends upon how much we cooperate with Him; how far He can go in us depends entirely upon how absolute our Amen is to Him. We are sinful and corrupt, we tend to lose our temper, and we always blame others. From our experience in following the Lord, we know that these are hindrances to the Lord. However, our unwillingness to submit to the Lord absolutely is the greatest hindrance.
Some brothers and sisters never offend others, but they are not useful to the Lord because when they respond to Him, they say yes and then say but. This is like a bridge that is well-constructed and clean but with a sign that blocks it, saying Not a Through Street. Do we want to be this kind of bridge? Another bridge may be old and broken, but the Lord can still cross over because it is open for passage. Some believers may be like a broken bridge, but the Lord can still pass through them.
There was a sister in Shanghai who was born of a high-class family. Both she and her husband were highly educated. Before she became a Christian, all her relatives and neighbors praised her meekness and elegance. Later, she believed in the Lord and continued to conduct herself in a well-tempered way. Another sister was bad-tempered before she was saved. After she was saved, she still quarreled with others frequently, and she was far inferior to the meek sister in the way she treated her husband. Thus, this sister truly admired the meek sister for her elegance and gracefulness. The rough sister loved the Lord very much, and she would come to every meeting, often praying with tears because of her realization that she was short in many things. One day the meek sister complained to the brothers about the rough sister. She pointed out that the sister would put on a head covering and pray very spiritual and inspiring prayers in the meeting but then fiercely quarrel with others at home. While we should not quarrel or argue, is anything gained by only being meek and by refraining from quarreling? Although the meek sister behaved very well, she always said but when the Lord made a demand on her. What is the difference between this and being quarrelsome? We may be perfect, but what good is it if we cannot be a bridge to let God pass through?
I am not saying that we should be rough, but I want to illustrate that God wants a person who will let Him pass through and cooperate with Him. We absolutely must see that God is not looking for meek and perfect people in His work; rather, He needs people who will cooperate with Him. Without man’s cooperation, God cannot do anything. May we not be proud but pray: “O God, You can work without me, but if You have me, it will be easier for You to work. I do not want to delay Your time.” God truly needs our cooperation.
If we have seen that God needs our cooperation, we will realize that we cannot be independent from God in anything. On the one hand, we know that if God does not have us, He cannot get through; on the other hand, if we do not have Him, we cannot move. We need to tell Him, “O God, I thank You that I have been shown mercy. Because of Your creation and redemption, I have You and I am even becoming You, but I am still a man. God, You cannot work without me. You need me, and You need man.” We should all lift up our head and be encouraged to pray in this way by God’s grace. Furthermore, we need to tell Him, “Without You, I cannot do anything; I need You.”
When we put these three matters together, we will arrive at one great principle: God’s work of redemption is carried out by God and man working together. All work originates from God, not from man. Man is needed in all His work, and God cannot do anything without man. God is needed for all His work as well, and man cannot do anything without God. The most important matter for one who serves the Lord is his relationship with God. The degree of our cooperation with God determines the degree to which we can touch and contact Him. The second matter is morality. We need morality to maintain our position before man. If we do not have morality before man, regardless of how much knowledge we have before God, we will not have any position to speak before men. As we serve and work for the Lord, we should spend much time to fellowship with the Lord. When we do anything, we should continually contact the Lord within and continually consecrate ourselves to the Lord and cooperate with Him.