You want to do something that counts in this life? Let Jesus remind all of us that this very second God is up to something in the lives of those around you. Events are unfolding, things are in place, decisions are being made – because God WILLS them to happen. God is up to something and is intensely interested in every person around us.
In John 5:17 Jesus says that God is “always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working”.
I’ve got all sorts of things that are trying to keep me from doing something that counts. I got alarms, calendars, internet, cell phones, professors, emails, people, and a misinformed brain full of could/should/would/if/when/maybe’s clouding out the fact that God is always at his work.
God is always at his work
There’s a guy whose youthful exuberance got him in trouble with family and friends parents in high school. But now it’s cool. In college he gets laughed at, high fives, and rewarded for the crazy things he says and does. God sees value in his new connections, acceptance of others, friendships…but God knows he must not remain there. So he’s put you in his life. He’s orchestrated those classes, those times of encounters, the assignments of dorm rooms and group projects – so that YOU can meet this kid and do something that counts.
There’s a kid with a traumatic past working hard to not remember, working hard for something different. Wondering what others would think if they knew, always carrying around this stuff. God is pursuing them, putting other messages in their life, comforting them when they pray at night, raising hopeful questions, and encounters with other people. God was involved in your decision to be at WVU, to be involved in that job, project, or group, such that you’d cross paths with this person who is ready to overcome rather than let this pain continue to define them. You have an opportunity to do something that counts.
The quiet kid was so excited. Socializing just happens because thousands of people live in the same dorms and it’s exciting and full of energy. But it’s also making it worse too because for all the people and excitement he still feels alone, unnoticed, and distant. It’s all fun but when he closes the door he feels no one would notice. And all the while God has been preparing him for astonishing work in Morgantown. God is lining up events for this kid to blossom and explode at WVU. You are not around him by accident, you have an opportunity to do something that counts.
God is always at his work. I have fifty things reminding me of everything else BUT that. So can we please remind ourselves to – look where God is moving and where we can engage people and do something that counts. If we can get over ourselves, with God “always at his work” it shouldn’t be too hard to find.