God is Working

[John 5:17] "My Father is working until now and I am working."

This short verse changed my life on a back porch eight days ago. Why? For several hours I literally got lost in this truth. God took me on a journey back to Genesis and all the way through to Revelation with the reminder that He has always been working, He is at work now, and He will work in the future.

The word "work" in that verse means to produce, cause to exist, and to labor. God is working. He is producing holiness in his people, revival in different parts of the world, salvation for the multitudes, peace for troubled hearts, healing for the incurable, and so much more.

God is working even now. He worked in my life on the back porch with that little verse. Now the truth is that we do not always feel like He is working. We do not always see Him working but that does not change the fact. God is working.

I can't explain to you why this resonated so deeply in my soul. I only know in those moments alone with God, hope began to soar, peace returned, faith was renewed, and passion for God and His work were rekindled. I felt the work of God in my soul while sitting on that back porch eight days ago. I traced the hand of God moving in impossible situations throughout history. Again and again when all seemed lost God worked. He gave the promised son, delivered from prison to second in command in the land, preserved the babe in the wicker basket floating down the Nile, parted the Red Sea, toppled walls surrounding Jericho, defeated the giant with a sling and a stone, brought down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, sent the Savior, healed the lame and blind, and started not only the church but an entire movement that encompassed the world.

God is working. He is always working. He works in our quiet times as He reveals truth and speaks to us day in and day out. He works in worship services to minister to hearts through music and His Word. He works in our lives through answers to prayer and reassurances that He is present in the tough times.

God works in ways that we can not understand this side of Heaven. How ingenious to have Joseph sold into slavery and falsely imprisoned to eventually have Joseph interpret Pharaoh's dream which landed him in the second highest position in the land. God used Joseph to preserve the nation of Israel.

In Egypt after a while it appeared that God was not working. Four hundred years elapsed and conditions worsened. In those years God had a plan and He was still at work. God worked to bring the deliverer Moses on the scene to bring about a dramatic deliverance.

God has it all figured out when we don't. He knows the right move at the right time. He knows the best people to play the right roles for the unfolding drama of life. Some people have more leading roles while others play supporting cast roles but through it all God is at work directing the affairs of life.

What a joy and thrilling reminder that God is working. I don't know what He is doing where you are and I may not even know what He is doing here but He is working. It is thrilling to wait for what He will do next.

There is no way to reproduce what God used John 5:17 to do in my life eight days ago. That work has remained. When I say it is well with my soul it is because I believe God is at work. That is a fascinating  and liberating truth. I assure you He is work around your life as well. It may not look like it at the moment. Keep waiting and keep trusting. He is working.