God is Always Working to Bring the Whole World Back to Him

Every hour that we are here on this earth, the Lord is at work. He is guiding us through all the things that we do, though many of us may not be aware of it. It is Jesus who carries us through the workday, who helps us with our presentations, who gives us the words we say to each other, and who guides us to bear with each other in difficult moments. He is the joy we find as we love our fellow human being. He is the love which makes us excited, when there is a new day ahead.

It is Jesus who makes the day good. If there is anything of the day that is good, that is where God is at work, as James writes – “all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change” (James 1:17). God is not a doctrine that we share among each other, he is not an idea that we may believe in one moment, and forget about in another. He is the moving spirit giving life to all existence, drawing all things towards their true purpose. All and everywhere is God working, and wherever we find ourselves in the middle of the day – in whatever it is we are doing – it is there the Lord is calling us to be still, and listen to him.

We may think that he is far away, or even absent; but this can only come in ignorance, as we ourselves choose to go on our own path. If we are willing to be still, and look for God, there he will surely be – for as we open our hearts to the good, we cannot but fall into the infinite ocean which is God, who exists all and everywhere around us, always reaching out to work his will within us. He is here, knocking and seeking to enter – but we first must be willing to open the door.

Only if we are blind, with our hearts hard and seeking only our own way, do we deceive ourselves into thinking that God is not here. We only do not see him, because nowhere in what we are doing, are we seeking him. We have our own affairs, our own business to manage – we have forgotten even to acknowledge God as the end of our existence. Instead do we place ourselves on this pedestal, seeking no end but our own benefit; we are more concerned on what we will have for dinner; we are hopeful for whatever may meet us on the morrow; we care more about the chores we have to do later today; we care more for whatever may seem to us to be of more use, than we do for God. We are sinful; but God is good – and never in our lives does he cease to reach out in his love, to guide us home to him.

What a challenge it is! For we are stubborn and eager to do what we want to do, and all too often build up habits that rise to oppose the good will of God. It is like rising above a very tempestous sea, when finally, we have found ourselves in a quiet place, where we stop what we are doing, and breathe – and here in the absence of ourselves, begin to see clearly what we had for so long ignored. We grow still, and begin to understand, that we have been walking a long time on this day with our heads buried in the sand.

Like earbuds blaring loudly into our ears, so do we get so caught up in our own affairs, that is not until we take these earbuds out, it is not until we uproot every weed of self, that we begin to open our ears to hear, and be more aware of the world that surrounds us. If we choose to be still, and listen – and think nothing of what we want to do but remain content in the moment God has given – there he will return to us. And here in his presence, so will our hearts rejoice to be freed of all those burdens from before, those shadows which hung heavy on our hearts, which we had thought would never depart from us. But God, as he is again welcome into our hearts, brings us to a true rest. When he knocks, and we answer, so will he enter. He loves us, and desires to establish a relationship with us – and has gone so far as the Cross just to restore us into this friendship. Yet this powerful, inexplicable love will never pour over us if we do not desire it. If we would rather have ourselves, we will be in a cave, and think in this cave that there is not love – but this is not true. God is here, but he will never force entry. He will always give us exactly what we need, to follow him away from this cave; and it is on us, to turn our hearts to God, and take the first step. For though God’s love for us eclipses the sun, he never barges into our hearts, but will knock. He will be there, waiting – but first we must open the door to him.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

For example, if a teacher begins to wander astray from the lecture he is giving to his students, and goes on some anecdote of relevance only to him, gossipping a long while about another teacher and how her classroom is always in a state of disorder; this teacher is choosing something that is not God. Where he should be teaching, he instead decides to gossip, and this because he is selfish. He is bitter and a bit grumpy regarding the state of his own occupation, and finds a personal satisfaction in speaking about others in a cruel fashion, and thus chooses to go on this path, to gossip; forsaking the greater good, which is teaching his students and leading them to God. This he would do, if he were first concerned with serving God. If he willingly offered himself as a servant, he would have eyes to see clearly, wherever there was an opportunity to help his fellow human being.

But because he is placing himself first, seeking what he wants to do, he deceives himself – he does not see God. He begins living in a box, one with no windows, which shuts him into his own reason, and makes him walk such a life that is determined alone by him. What he chooses, he chooses for himself; he is led by no compass but that which he wants. And so he chooses only what is of most benefit to himself – he cannot help but to be selfish, as all which he chooses, seeks a good uprooted. Apart from the Lord, as he seeks the good, the only end is himself – and thus he is selfish, and will continue to be selfish, unless he turns to God, and seeks the greater good of love.

If he places God again on his heart, the teacher is restored into who God created him to be. He is no longer cut off in his own understanding, seeking the good wherever he can, seeking God in all the wrong places – not so, but he is seeking God, and not himself, and thus his eyes are open to the world outside of himself. Where once he did not question but to spend nearly the whole class complaining about Mrs Farley’s horrendous classroom – whose notebooks were all strewn about the floor, and whose whiteboards were a ghastly mess as she permitted her students to draw on them with crayon – now he can see clearly, how foolish it is to speak this way. Not only do his students have no interest in such complaining, it has no relevance to why he is here in the first place.

He is here to teach; and seeing how his gossip has no relevance to the lecture and is instead making his students rather bored, the teacher instead chooses the greater good. He forgoes such gossip, denies himself, and chooses instead to serve his students. And this through nothing but God’s grace, which first must meet him, to knock on the door that the teacher might respond, and follow where God calls. The goodness belongs to God, and outside of God, the teacher is nothing – so he must be willing to draw near to God as God draws nearer to him. God never forces his entry, but he is patient, and kind. He knocks, and we can answer – the choice is on us.

We only believe God is far away when we choose to go astray. If we are more concerned about the things of this world, which shine with many bright colors and capture our hearts far more than a thought of going back to church – it is very easy for us to forget, and even be ignorant, of wherever God is truly at work. We are blind to him; so long as we do not seek him. We do not know where he is, as we place a bag over our heads; not wanting to hear the Lord but to do exactly what we know he has told us not to do.

He speaks to us, making everything clear, and it is when we take off the bag, and let the moment be the moment, to be present in the present – joyful in it – when we see, through the Lord, that we had been walking a long long time in folly, but now, we have eyes to see, that God is here, and God is working. We know that he loves us deeply, and we see ahead of us, a life of purpose, a way of gold – a road that leads not to this world, but to a place God is preparing for us in Heaven. God is calling us; we must always be ready to listen, and look, and seek God with all of our hearts – that as God speaks, so might we listen to him, and follow Jesus as he leads us home to his Kingdom.

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:2-3)