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{{ Looking to God: How God works

ATTN: We started the year with the afterglow of the winter retreat – It was spirit-filled, family-like, body-building time that God allowed us to have. And the theme of it was “Breakthrough.” That is the theme for our church this year. We are asking God for a breakthrough in our individual walk with Christ, in our family life, in our church, and in our community. And to do that, we need to rely on God more than ever because God is the only one who can give us the breakthrough. We do not want the kind of breakthrough that human beings can engineer. We want God to do a supernatural work in and through us that in the end, we will know that God has been with us. 

Does not this life cry out that there is more to life than this? You could be going through real tough time financially or physically, and all you can think about is putting food on the table and shelter over your head, but even in the midst of it, doesn’t the voice inside of us say that this is not all there is to life? That, if this is all there is, then life is utterly meaningless. We are no different than animals. But I think we know intuitively that life is more than food and shelter. Also, even if things happened to be going well for you and you are able to enjoy good things of this world, still, isn’t the inner voice saying to you that this is just an echo of the tune we have never heard on the other side of heaven? 

In other words, what we long for deeply within ourselves is to experience the divine. John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I want this for myself and for you!

So, our emphasis in the beginning of this new decade will be on experiencing this God as real, present and active. Two weeks ago, we have learned that God primarily speaks by the Holy spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church. And we emphasized listening to God through hearing and reading of His word. And many of you are still keeping up with Bible reading and keeping each other accountable. And last week, the emphasis was on prayer that is more than just asking God for stuff, but really having a conversation with all Mighty God. And we took time during our service to pray together, which was truly moving and awesome – many of you have told me after the service. 

Today, god-willing, I want to go deeper into aligning ourselves to experience this God more deeply. And to do that, we need to know a little about how He works. Here they are: 1) God is always at work around us, so watch. 2) He invites us to join Him in what we are doing, so respond. 3) He takes his time developing us to fit the assignment, so wait! (be patient) 

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1. God is at work around us, so watch 

Watch for what? For what God is doing around us. Our job as the children of God is not to think up stuff to do for God. Rather, we are to observe what God is doing in and around us, and then simply join Him in it. One thing about God is that He is the Initiator. He is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end. Therefore, in our relationship with Him, we do not dictate what He is to do for us or for the world. Rather, God is constantly at work around us, and if we will avail ourselves to Him, He will invite us to join Him in His work. 

Ex) Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19)

Even though He was the Son of God and co-Creator with the Father, the way He worked while He was on earth was to simply be watching at His Father and He did what He saw His Father doing. And His Father – our Father – was always at work. Jesus also said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matt 10:29) If God the Father is working out when a sparrow might die, we can safely assume that He is at work around us who are made in His image. 

So, our task is relatively simple: Watch. Watch to see where God is at work around us. What does that look like? Here’s an example. Here’s a story from Henry Blackaby, the author of Experiencing God.

ILL: Our church began to sense God leading us to an outreach ministry to the college camus. I had never done student work. Our church had never done student work. Our denominational student ministries department recommended we begin with a Bible study in dorms. For over a year we tried to start a Bible study in the dorms and IT did not work. …

Then, I (Henry Blackaby) gathered our students and said, “According to some Bible verses, no one is going to seek God on his own initiative. No one will ask after spiritual matters unless God is at work in his life. When you see someone seeking God or asking about spiritual matters, you are seeing God at work.” 

I told our students, “If someone starts asking you spiritual questions, whatever else you have planned, don’t do it. Cancel what you are doing. Go with that individual and look at see what God is doing there.” That week our students went out to see where God was at work and join Him.

On Wednesday one of the girls reported, “Oh, Pastor, a girl who had been in classes with me for two years came to me after class today. She said, ‘I think you might be a Christian. I need to talk to you.’ I remember what you said. I had a class, but I missed it. We went to the cafeteria to talk. She said, ‘Eleven of us girls have been studying the Bible, and none of us are Christians. Do you know somebody who can lead us in a Bible study?’”

As a result of that contact, we started three Bible study groups in the women’s dorms and two in the men’s dorms. For two years we tried to do something for God and failed. For three days we looked to see where God was working and joined Him. What a difference that made! 

 

2. He invites us to join Him in what he’s doing, so respond. 

If God has shown you where He is at work, that’s His invitation to join Him. So, the only proper response at that point is to submit and to join Him. 

Some examples: 

1. God tells abraham to leave his home of 75 years to a new land he will show him. And Abraham leaves. 
2. God tells Moses to go back to the palace where he faced failure 40 years ago. It took some convincing, but Moses does respond and goes back. 
3. God tells Esther, through her uncle Mordecai, to talk to the king so that the Jews won’t be slaughtered, and Esther responds by risking her life to appear before the king to plead for her people’s lives. 
4. God appears before Paul and turns his life upside down and tells him he will be sent to the gentiles. Paul responds by abandoning his camp of the pharisees and joins the Christians. 

When God shows us what He is doing around us, that’s His invitation for us adjust our lives to join Him. We cannot continue to go our way and still follow God. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, He must deny Himself, take up the cross, and follow me.” That cross may look like abandoning our circle of friends. It might be moving. It might be changing our career. It might be as simple as striking up a conversation about spiritual things with our friends/relatives. 

= So, watch for where God is working and when God shows you, join Him. 

 

3. He takes His time developing us to fit the assignment, so wait! (be patient) 

When God gives us an assignment, He doesn’t just tell us to carry out the task and be done with it. What He proceeds to do is to develop our character, so that it will match the assignment He has given to us. And this will usually take years. Our response to Him to join Him will take a moment, but to become the type of person who will carry out that task successfully will take years to develop. 

– When Abraham responded to God’s call to go out of his land to the land He will show Him and make His descendents as numerous as the sand on seashore, it took another 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled. What was God doing in the meantime? Molding and shaping Abraham through many circumstantial changes to fit the assignment of being the father of many nations. 

– When Moses finally agreed to going back to Egypt so that his people will be delivered, it wasn’t for another 40 years for them to reach the promised land. 

– When Joseph was shown the dream at age 17 of his future as the leader of Egypt, almost immediately his life changed and was sent to Egypt, but it wasn’t until he was 30 – 13 years later – that God’s promise would be fulfilled. In the meantime, he was sold as a slave by his brothers and went to prison for the crime he didn’t commit. God was molding him and shaping him to fit the assignment he would give him. 

Here’s what’s consistently true of those who have been called by God – and if we are Christians, we are all called by God: God does not call the equipped. He equips the called. 

This is exactly opposite of the how the world works. The world will look at your resume – your experience, your education to see if you are fit for the job. Only if you are already equipped, they will give you a call. However, God doesn’t do it this way. He calls the totally unequipped. But then He goes on to equip him/her to prove that He is God. That is why most people, when truly called by God will say, “Wait, I can’t do that. I’ve never done anything like it. I’m not the right person for it. Send someone else, please!” 

ILL: That is my story as well. Growing up, I never had a friend who was non-Korean. I didn’t know anything about black lives or white lives. Yet, God was calling me to pastor a diverse church, I felt like a fish out of water. But for the last 10 years, God has been equipping me to fit the assignment He has given me to do. 

 

CONC: I will give you an assignment this week. Would you prayerfully watch where God might be at work around you?  Pray that God will open your eyes and minds to see where God might be working. Are certain people displaying their openness to spiritual things? Are circumstances such that God puts you in an unusual situation you are not familiar with? Is there a person of peace who might approach you to possibly bring Christ into that circle? Let’s take this week to really be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and hopefully, when we meet next week, you will have a story to tell.