“Working Where God is at Work!”
John 4:34, 5:17, 8:29
The primary way Jesus knew how to do the Father’s will, was to watch to see what the Father was doing. When Jesus saw what the Father was doing, He joined that work.
Notice in John 4:34 how Jesus replies to His disciples. This is the story of the Samaritan woman. Now we are all familiar with the story, it’s where Jesus wins the woman at the well. John says in 4:4 that “He needed to go through Samaria. So, He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.”
Now this piece of ground is incredibly significant. Back in Genesis 33:18-20 the bible tells us that Jacob bought this piece of land from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father for one hundred pieces of money. Then Jacob erected an altar there and called it El E-lohe Israel. Meaning the God of Israel. So historically, this is a place of great significance.
Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus sets us an example of listening to God? Somebody might say, well, if Jesus is God then why did He have to pray and find God’s desires? The answer is simple, He was God and Man all at the same time. He allowed His glory to be veiled in flesh for you and me. Jesus is God, but He was also Man. He obeyed the Father perfectly. Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law and He obeyed His Father perfectly without fail in our behalf. By watching His obedient life, we learn how to listen, how to pray and how to obey from His example. I mean we see in Jesus a love and care to go and win this Samaritan woman to the Lord. We see her go back to her city and bring others to Christ. This is a wonderful story of how God works in the normalcies of life. I mean, a water well, a drink of water, a woman and a conversation that went from the physical to the spiritual because Jesus was in obedience to His Father.
Now I want to point out a few things that help you and I to determine how to hear from God and to accept His invitation of involvement where He is at work.
First, Jesus was sensitive to the Spirit of God and we should be too. In John 8:28-29 scripture says “Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Now there is a lot of wisdom and insight revealed in those verses. We see Jesus sensitive to the Father and His purpose to send His Son into the world to die for our sins. Jesus knew that His mission was to redeem lost souls. We are comforted by this truth. Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man. He was there before the world was created knowing His mission to come to the earth He created to love us, to be lifted at Calvary and to loose us from our sin.
Secondly, Jesus was aware of the presence of God. He said “The Father has not left Me alone”. Jesus knew the will of God and the work that He was sent to do. He was sensitive to that work and everything He did in life was in perfect obedience to the will of God. The writer of Hebrews speaking of Christ says in Heb. 10:7 “Then I said, Behold, I have come-In the volume of the book it is written of Me-To do your will, O God.” Jesus was always working in Gods will with a realization of His presence.
Thirdly, Jesus was always doing the things that pleased God. The text says “for I always do those things that please Him.” Now this is the key in finding fulfillment and meaning in life. As believers we need to find where God is at work and join Him there. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. As we read the bible and pray our ears will be sensitive to the things God. It’s a joy to sense Gods leading and find where He is working and join that work. As we do, we find ourselves walking by faith. As we walk by faith, we become more aware of His presence because we are listening to Him. Jesus also said in this text, “but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things”. Do you see that active correlation between His hearing from God and speaking the words of God. This reminds me of His words in Matthew 10:20. It was this dynamic that Jesus lived at all times that caused Him at least from His humanity side to “do those things that always please Him” of John 8:29.
Now today, we look to see where God is working. I mean the nation is in quarantine, there is a virus and everyone is affected in some way. We see God working as churches Live stream their services. God has caused His church to be in the media world almost overnight. Millions are now exposed to the gospel. Today is Tuesday, and did you know that we have already had about 1,600 views of our service Sunday. That’s incredible. That doesn’t count where two are watching one device. We need to pray for our live stream services. God is working. We don’t have the equipment to do this, so its been trial and error. We are using a 6’ ladder placed over some center pews. We put Juli’s IPad on the paint tray of the ladder. We crank up the sound system really loud in the church and wal-lah we are streaming live. It is working and we are glad because God is using our makeshift video to carry our singing and preaching into homes.
Another area God is at work right now is through encouragement. This is a time we need to be encouraging one another and finding ways to help. A simple phone call or thought out text can go a long way. We can pray for one another and for souls to come to Christ. We can pray for our governmental leaders, for a vaccine, and as always for revival in our nation. The opportunities and places to serve God have changed some for now, but that’s okay. Your spiritual gifts that you typically use will need new and creative ways to blossom other than in the church building, at least temporarily. While temporarily out of our building let’s find other ways to use our gifts for His glory. Let’s see where God is at work and join Him in that work.
Bro. Bruce Rudd