God At Work Series

God at Work

September 17, 2006

John 5:17-20

This weekend I have had the privilege of being the sole/only caregiver/Parent to Deb and my children, Luke, Ben and Emma.

Deb left on Friday with 15 other women from our church to attend the Women’s Retreat held at our Camp in Yelm.

Before she left, she left me theses lists and schedules - To do’s in order to keep us all functioning properly.

The Food schedule/A menu for the weekend.

The Daily Routine schedule.

She laid out the children’s Church clothes. Filled the Diaper box with Emma’s diapers and a dozen other things to make sure I had everything I needed to insure that her 3 children would be around when he returns tonight. These lists were just for our survival. For us to maintain, not to get any new work done. Not to tackle any projects, but simply to make it through until tonight.

Well, it’s Sunday. Between Grandpa and me, all 3 kids are alive and all of us are dying to have Mom back - not only for who she is, but for what she does. Those things she does that we don’t ever realize until she is off the scene for a couple of days. On weekends like this I realize that Mom does work/is at work in ways I will never know.

A man writes. When I lived at home, with my parents, I didn’t realize how good I had it. I had no comprehension of anything they did for me. The fridge was always full. Sometimes it would get nearly empty, but then, overnight, it would always magically refill. We always had water, electricity, and a telephone, I never thought about what they might cost. I always had a place to stay.

When I moved out, things were radically different. I had to pay rent. I had to buy food. I had to pay the electric, the petrol for my car, the water. It was tough. The place where I lived was not very nice either. I lived with three other guys and all of our girlfriend’s refused to use the bathroom in our house. It had no air-conditioning and the heating barely warmed the place in the winter. I often found myself thinking back wistfully about the years I lived at home. (From Gary MacDonald, SermonCentral.com John 5:16-19)

Yes?

As the line goes - "We don’t know what we’ve got ’till it’s gone."

But Friends, as people on the road of faith. As people trusting in and having a relationship with our God, we never have to be concerned about this. This we will never have to fear.

Friends, you and I have been given the assurance that when it comes to our God, He will never leave us nor forsake.

He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Friends, -our God - who worked 6 days to create this world.

-our God - who worked in the lives of Ruth, Esther, Malachi, Noah, Joshua and Caleb.

-our God, who led, fed, healed, brought victory in the pages of our Bible.

Is the same God, living and at work today.

Saints - Our God is always at work around you. Would you say that with me? Our God is always at work around you.

And make it personal, God is always at work around me.

He will never take off for the weekend.

He will never kick you out of the house.

He doesn’t have office hours.

He has no labor contract with days off written in the fine print.

He has never been absent.

missing

or on vacation as the prophet Elijah joked about.

He has been attentive to the sparrow and responsive to the Saints.

Our God is always at work around us.

This morning in Sunday School, our children and the adults studied this 1st reality. This week our 6 small groups did so as well. I encourage you to take part in these. And as you read the Book, the Journal or used your insert this past week, you were led deeper into this reality that our God is always at work around us.

A passage that helps us to understand this truth is found in John, chapter 5, page 1653-1654.

You’ll notice in verse number 2 that this story took place at a pool. A pool that didn’t attract the physically fit, strutting around showing off their curves and muscular physiques, but instead this pool attracted a different crowd.

Verse 3 - "Here a great number of disabled people used to lie.

The blind

the lame

the paralyzed"

Verse 5 - One man who was there had been an invalid for 38 years.

Verse 6 - Tells us that Jesus is there. He is at the pool. Jesus learns about this man, the man’s condition and his inability to be healed. And Jesus responds to this by asking the man, "Do you want to get well?" And then tells him to "Get up. Pick up your mat and walk."