Do you like the word synergy? It is often used to describe the merger of two companies in order to increase productivity and revenue. It can be experienced in a more personal way, however, when individuals agree to cooperate for their mutual benefit or to accomplish a certain goal which they could not do own their own. It is defined in the dictionary as “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects”. The root meaning, however, is simply “working together”. When people come together in agreement, it generally reduces competition and can lessen selfishness and ego-centered pride. The result of positive synergy is increased energy, optimism, enthusiasm, with results that could never have been accomplished individually.
Isn’t it amazing that the Lord God, creator and sustainer of all that exists, invites us into partnership with Himself? While He could miraculously accomplish anything, He seeks our cooperation and then empowers us to do what we could never do on our own. Think about the amazing spread of the Gospel in the early church because the disciples of Jesus eagerly set out to do what Jesus had trained and then empowered them to do. Remember the image that Jesus gave to them depicting the fruit that they would produce as they “remained in Him”? In his epistles to the new believers Paul often referred to the “work that God had planned or prepared for all those who love Him”. Doesn’t this suggest that in discovering and living out the desires of the Lord we will see results and find satisfaction we all long to experience?
Have you ever thought about the difference you will make when you are willing, even eager, to cooperate with God’s desires for you? Does He simply invite you to this way of living or does He need you so together you will both experience a love driven synergy? All the glory can go to Him as you work together with Him but you will find joy and delight that will go far beyond what you could have living any other way.