God Works In Your Life Today

Introduction

Good morning. It’s great to see everyone out here this morning. As I try to get things situated up here, I know I will forget something. I think I got the microphone turned on, but I probably will forget the PowerPoint. So I have one, but if I forget it, just don’t worry about it. Don’t jump up and down in the back. I won’t notice. I won’t figure out what’s going on. But to everyone who’s here this morning, to our visitors and our members, I’m glad to see you here today. If you’re listening online or you’re watching on FaceTime, I really appreciate you listening. And I hope that you can take something from this lesson. I really hope that this lesson really builds us up and makes us feel good about being Christians.

And that’s what I want you to take away from that this morning. It really helps me with that. And I hope it will do the same for you.

Now for this man from whom Jesus has just cast a demon, this is probably pretty simple. He’s no longer breaking chains with his bare hands. He’s no longer running around without clothes. This is probably pretty simple. But he goes home to his hometown and declares to everyone what he’s done. What if someone asks this of you? What if someone said to you, declare how much God has done for you? Would it be as easy of a question? Sure, God has granted us eternal life, and let’s not forget that. That is the most important thing. But could you say anything more than that? Could you say anything more than God has granted me eternal life? Sure, again, a great thing. But what has God done for you on a daily basis?

Could you answer that question? Because I want to be able to say with confidence that God works in my life, and I want you to be able to say that too. I want you to be able to say the words of Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. That statement speaks of a God at work. I believe I can say with confidence that God works in my life. And I want you to be able to say that too. And so that’s why this morning I’d like to speak to you for a few minutes about God working in your life today.

Now, as I thought more about this lesson, I began to think about why I might not think that God works in my life. And I know this sounds probably like a strange question coming from a Christian. You’re probably thinking, well, a Christian, of course you think God works in your life. But I began to turn to the phrases that we use to describe God working in our lives. And that was where I really started to notice something that was strange. Now, before I say any of these phrases, I want you to know that I think they’re all true in some form. They’re all based in Scripture. We use them all the time. I use them myself, so I’m not trying to call anyone out and say that these phrases are wrong, okay?

But I want to talk to you first about the phrases we use that reflect God’s working, God working in our lives. So let’s take a look at the first one. We talk about this one all the time with prayer. We say, well, God answers prayers, but then we always serve this little bit on the end, and we say, but he doesn’t always answer them in the way that we want. Or on the timetable that we want. Or we’ll say, well, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter what happens in your life. Or how about this one? Maybe it’s just God’s will. Or God acts in mysterious ways. Or how about this one? Maybe it’s really a blessing from God. Now, again, these are all great phrases, aren’t they?

But do you notice anything intriguing about all these phrases? When do we use them? Do you ever see these used in a positive way? In a positive circumstance? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard someone say, maybe it’s really just a blessing from God, unless that was soon followed up with that someone died, or that someone was very sick, or that someone had left you, or that something bad had happened to your life. Maybe you’ve lost your job. We never use these phrases in a positive way. I want to look at a passage real quick, and I think I have this one up on the screen. Ezekiel 34, starting in verse 25, if you’d like to turn over there. Ezekiel 34 and verse 25.

It says, I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them in the places all around my hill a blessing. And I will send down the showers in their season. They shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their increase. Sorry, the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase.

Now, this is of course in the Old Testament, but this is prophecy about this new covenant that God would have with his people. Is this the same idea we get when we say, well, that’s really just a blessing from God that all these bad things happen in your life? Because when I read, I will send down showers in their season, and they shall be showers of blessing. I don’t read bad things right there. That sounds like a God who loves his people, a God who acts in their lives in good ways.

But I said, Man, Satan sure is active. And so I started thinking about the phrases that I used to describe Satan in my life. And I use phrases like, well, that’s just Satan trying to bring me down. Or that’s just Satan trying to draw me away. And so we’re left with a very untrue impression that God isn’t very active in our lives. But Satan sure is. And now again, you’re probably thinking, well, Jared, there’s passages that talk about this, and you’re right. There’s you’re probably already thinking of 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And you’re right. The devil is active. But we should never give, we use the word credit, more credit to Satan being active in our lives, than to God.

1. Changing Our Perspective

And so, what I want to offer is that we change some of these phrases that we use. And we use not only these phrases in difficult times, but we use phrases in good times to describe God working in our lives because He is so active. But to do that, I think we have to change our perspective a little bit. And so now don’t forget this point. We’re going to come back to it more in our second point towards the end. But I want to talk to us now about changing our perspective. And not just in the long term, but changing our perspective in the short term so that we can recognize when God is acting in our lives. And now I guess I should define what I mean by long term and short term for us.

Long term, for this lesson at least, I’m defining as anything after your death. So, short term being this life. Whether you’re two years old or 120 years old, that’s the short term. So let’s look over at a passage, because I, again, I want to be balanced here, and I do want to talk about the long term a little bit. And we’re going to look at a passage in Luke chapter 10 and verse 20. Now, if I could give you a little bit of background on this passage as well. This is where Christ has just sent out the 72 disciples, and they’ve gone out ahead of him to different places, and they’ve been casting out demons and doing great works, basically preparing the way for Christ to go there.

And now some of these people have come back to him, and they’re talking about all the great things they’ve been able to do. And they say, even the demons were subject to us in your name. How great is that? And so Christ says to them, in Luke 10 in verse 20, he says, Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. So we see here that Christ does look at the long term as well. But he doesn’t totally disregard the fact that it was great that they were doing all these things. He said, You’re going to do this and you’re going to do more in my name. But he looks very much the long term, and I believe that’s the same thing that the psalmist is doing in Psalm chapter 73.

Let’s turn over there real quick. In the 73rd Psalm, we have the psalmist who is Asaph, talking about life in general and how difficult things are. Perhaps it was a specific difficult situation in his life that he was going through right then, I don’t know. But he says in verse 1, truly, God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But then he points out, he says, My feet had almost stumbled. Why is that? He says he was envious of the arrogant when I saw pros when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He was envious of the arrogant, the wicked. But he goes on to explain more his thoughts on this subject. And as he goes on, he says, if you if you fast forward now to verse 16, he tries to understand why that is.

And he says in verse 16, he says, I thought to understand this. And it seemed to me a wearisome task. And then he says, until I went to the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end. And so, in considering these people, he says, look, I’m looking at the end, and I’m seeing that, you know what? Things aren’t going to always go well for them. They may be going really great for them right now, but in the end, they may not be going well for them. But then he looks inwardly at himself again. And he says, he continues on in verse 27. And he says, Behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. Sorry, again, that was looking more towards the end for those people.

And he picks up again in verse 28. He says, But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. So it’s interesting to me that when talking about the arrogant, the wicked, he looks at their end. When looking at himself, he looks for God as his refuge. And I don’t think he’s looking at God as his refuge just in the just in the sense that, well, after I die, it’s not really going to matter because I’ll be with God. He’s looking at God as his refuge now. And to do that does require that God also provide that refuge for him. And I believe that God provided that refuge for Asap, and I believe he provides that refuge for us as well.

2. God Works in Our Prayers

Because we are also his people. So I want to look at another idea, another time that God works in our lives. And that’s in our, and that’s in our prayers. One of my favorite passages of the New Testament is probably in James chapter 5. And we’ll pick up halfway through verse 16, James chapter 5. He says, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. Why does James give us this example of Elijah from the Old Testament?

We’re not prophets, are we? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never commanded that fire come down from heaven and destroy a sacrifice that’s covered in water, so that those who don’t believe may see the power of God. That’s never happened in my life. But James uses this example. And I think what he wants us to see here is that, yes, it may appear that Elijah did some great things in his life. And he did. But it was God working through him. Elijah had great faith. And all those great things that Elijah did, that was God working through Elijah. That was God working in his life. In the first chapter of James, he speaks more about prayer, and he says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James gives us the idea here that asking with faith is asking with confidence. And that confidence isn’t in ourselves. That confidence is in the Creator. That confidence is the one who can and will provide for us.

Paul sends him back, and right towards the end, he says, Look, I know you’re going to do all this stuff, you know, that I’ve asked you to do. And then he says in verse 22, he says, at the same time, prepare a guest room for me. For I am hoping that through your prayers, I will be graciously given to you. Recall, Paul was writing this letter from prison. Roman prison. And he says, I’m hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Well, I may not be exactly like Elijah, but I don’t think Philemon was a prophet either. Alright? Philemon was a slave owner. Philemon was a servant of Christ. And Paul was confident that God would listen to his prayers. And I’m confident he will listen to ours.

3. God Watches Over Our Spiritual Safety

Another idea is our spiritual safety. God watches over us in our spiritual safety. In John 10, 28, Christ says, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand.

What does he mean? Is he referring solely to after we’re dead? Once we’re in heaven, no one will be able to take us away from him? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I think he’s talking about the same thing that Paul is writing about in Romans 8, verse 38. He says, and I appreciate Neil reading this passage this morning, he actually read more of it, so you have more of the context already. But he says, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Do you know how he does this?

I don’t. Perhaps it’s like 2 Kings 6 and verse 17, where Elisha and his servant are surrounded. And Elisha prays to God that his servant’s eyes be opened up. And when he does, the servant looks around, and instead of only seeing the armies surrounded him, he sees the army of God.

4. God Works Through Our Physical Well-Being

Or maybe it’s like the book of Job. When every time Satan wants to tempt Job, he has to go and get permission from God before he can tempt God’s servant. I don’t know how he does it. But he says that he does this for us. He says that he watches over us. But what about other things? Right now we talked primarily about spiritual things in our life. What about our physical well being? God watch over us then? Does God work in our lives through our physical well being? I think he does. You probably figured if I talked about this part, I would mention Matthew 6 and verse 31. Well, you were right. Let’s go there. Matthew 6 and verse 31. Says, Do not be anxious about anything, saying, What shall we eat?

What shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Now, a few quarters ago, I was teaching the high school class, and as I was teaching them, I really thought at that time that this passage was talking more about our spiritual life and more about the fact that, well, in the end, it’s not going to matter. You know, in the end, it’s not going to matter what you ate or what you drank or what you wore. And in a sense, that’s true. It’s not going to matter. We always use the term in the grand scheme of things.

Well, that’s right. It’s not going to matter. But that’s not what he’s saying here. It’s not at all what he’s saying. He says, he points out that our Heavenly Father knows that we need them all. What’s the all? The all is food, water, clothing. So he tells them, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and he will provide the rest.

And it was the movie, You Can’t Take It With You. And I absolutely love this movie. And at one point, right towards the end, Grandpa Vanderhoff says something that really caught my attention. He’s praying before a meal with his entire family. And he says, We’ve all got our health. As far as anything else is concerned, we still leave that up to you. And that’s very true. That’s very true. Because God will provide all those things. In Psalm 37 and verse 25. A psalmist writes, I have been young, and now I’m old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his children begging for bread. This passage is such a comfort to me in reading this, and I’m sure it is to all of us.

5. God Works in You Through Good Works

But there’s one more idea, one more, one more place that I want to talk about in God working in our lives.

That’s good works. And I think this is really where we can change our perspective the most and see God working in us. Turn with me to Philippians, the second chapter in verse 12. Philippians the second chapter. Paul writes, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We always stop there, don’t we? And we say, get on it. It’s up to you. Do your job. Work out your salvation. And that’s right. That’s right. But let’s keep reading. Verse 13, for it says, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. You’re probably wishing I just started with this and been done with this already.

God works in you. It says it right there. I really like how the New Living Version translates this. And say what you will about the translation. I think they got this one right here. They say, God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Let’s take a look at another passage. Ephesians, the second chapter and verse 10. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. How does he prepare these works beforehand? Again, that’s a question I don’t know. That’s beyond the scope of this lesson. Maybe Tony will do a lesson on that sometime soon. I don’t know how he does this. But I know this.

That we were created in Christ Jesus. I think that means that’s our job as Christians. This is what we’re here for. To do good works. And if I could call back to that passage in Philippians again now, that’s us doing the will of God. That pleases him when we do that. And so now I’d like to come back around to that first point again. I said we were going to look at this again. I don’t want to leave you with, well, let’s just, you know, stop saying all these phrases. No, I want to leave you with something different here for the second point. I’m not quite done yet. We also have a third point. It sounds like I’m wrapping things up. But what can we change?

What can we improve on? And I think it’s to say this, remembering those passages from Ephesians and Philippians. When someone asks us, why is it that you’re doing this good thing? Why did you stop and give this person food? You know, why are you always so nice to everyone, even when they’re not nice? Well, instead of, well, just kind of mumbling and trying to get a few words of good and nice and hoping that they’ll just stop asking questions. Let’s say it. That’s God working in me. God provided that opportunity so that I could help you. So that we’re not just recognizing God in the difficult times. And that’s a very good time to remember him. But we’re recognizing him. We’re remembering him when times are difficult.

6. The George Bailey Argumentation

Or when times are good. I encourage you to do that. To change that perspective in your mind. Because God works through us all the time. And I think we just don’t see it. I know I don’t. Now, for a third point. There are some who probably read commentaries or volumes from philosophers, I don’t know, to try to try to come up with different points for sermons. But I watched a movie. I watched my favorite movie. Don’t laugh. It’s a wonderful life. It really is such a good movie. And if you haven’t ever seen it, well, you’re about to get a great opportunity because it’s going to be playing probably from December 1st through December 31st. And it’s the only Christmas movie I want to watch. And it’s going to be on so much that there’s probably going to be documentaries on about why it’s on so much.

And so this next point, it’s a little strange. I’m calling it the George Bailey argumentation. Now, if you’ve ever seen this movie, I’ll give you a little recap of it. George Bailey is the main character. And he’s a really good guy. He’s not wildly successful, but he loves his family. He loves his friends. He’ll do anything for them. And one night, as everything is crumbling around him, he feels like he’s losing his family, he’s losing his friends, losing his livelihood. He’s losing his freedom. He prays to God, and he wishes that he’d never been born. And so this is where it does get a little strange. God sends an angel to him, and the angel grants that wish. And he says, okay, George, says you’ve never been born.

And so he takes him around and he shows him the town that he lives in. He shows him his family, shows him his friends. And everything is so different. Because those good opportunities that George had to work in his life, they weren’t there anymore. Because he wasn’t there. And in the end, of course, George recognizes this. But I want to think about one thing. Have you ever considered when you’re thinking about how God doesn’t work in your life? Have you ever considered what if the gospel had never come to you?

What about the friends that you have? Your family? The good things that you’ve done in your life, the accomplishments. So many of them are tied to our life as Christians. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if none of those things had happened? None of those things were there because the gospel had never come into your life. How different your life would be. Where you would turn to in difficult times. Who you would have to turn to. Because instead of turning to someone here, probably the person sitting next to you’d have to turn to non-Christians or yourself. How difficult life would be.

And all the more as you see the day drawing near. We serve a God who in his infinite wisdom created the church. Why did he do that? I don’t think this is an all encompassing answer of why he created the church. But he wants us to stir up one another to love in good works. Remember the passages that we read from Ephesians and Philippians? We’re here to do good works. That’s the will of God. And whenever we follow through with that’s God working in you. That’s God working in me. As I mentioned earlier, the question of whether God works in our lives and exactly what he does in our lives has challenged me for a long time. And it’s really been a difficult question for me to answer.

Conclusion

But I know that God doesn’t simply sit back and watch his creation work, unwilling to do anything. I know he doesn’t do that. And I think these passages have shown us that he doesn’t. I say that he’s working in our lives every day. Do you say that? If so, let’s acknowledge that. Let’s tell others about it. When we have the opportunity to say, God is working in my life today, that’s why I had the opportunity to help you.

In our spiritual well-being, in our prayers, physical well-being, our good works.

In all that we do. And it’s by his wisdom that we’re all here today.

If you aren’t a Christian, if you aren’t a servant of Christ. Who is in control of your life? Are you? I doubt you’ll say you are. If you do, give it a few days or a few weeks, and I’m sure plenty of times, you’ll wonder who’s in control of your life. Because we’ve all been there. We’ve all tried to take control of our lives. God is in control, and God needs to be in control. So if you’re not a Christian, I encourage you to put him in control of your life today. Or maybe you are a Christian, and you try to take control back. And you tried to say, well, I’m going to be the one in control of my life. How’s that going? It’s time to come back and put him in control of your life again.

We can help you in any way. Please come forward now as we stand and sing.