“The heavens declare the glory of
God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.”—Psalm 19:1
You may have heard that people who work in the movies,
theater, and the arts are creative. But
did you ever stop to think that the work that God does is creative? He made the heavens, earth, and all living
creatures. He formed Adam and Eve in His
image and likeness (Genesis 1). He
knitted each of us in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).
His work is
powerful. Through His Son Jesus, He accomplished
a great salvation for all who trust in Him.
Our heavenly Father worked mightily to open a way for us to be
reconciled to Him and adopted into His family (2 Corinthians 5:18; Ephesians 1:5). Not only that, but God’s work is ongoing, and
Jesus is the one who holds all things together, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to
the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and
upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Throughout the Bible, we observe God at work in people’s
lives. Sometimes He acts in a dramatic
fashion, like when He parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the
Egyptian army (Exodus 14:21-31). At
other times it may appear as if He is not taking any action. Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their
brother needed His help, but Jesus delayed before traveling to their home (John
11:3-6). There are times that the Lord’s
handiwork can bring great joy and
delight, as was the case when Hannah bore a child (1 Samuel 1:27-2:1). And then there are the times that his plan
may lead us through painful times. Which
occurred in Joseph’s experience, before the Lord elevated him to a position of
authority to help his family (Genesis 37 - 45).
One of the ways to recognize God’s handiwork is to pray in
an active, persistent manner.
Christ-centered prayers narrow our focus to the Lord. Then we can more readily identify His actions
and see how to join Him. Self-centered
petitions serve to distract us from Him.
The Father also wants our heart and mind yielded to His
will. Pursuing our own agenda shifts the
focus to ourselves and makes us lose sight of the Lord. But a submissive attitude prepares us to listen
and obey. Regularly concentrating on God’s
Word will clear our minds and help us understand what the Lord is saying to
us.
We must develop patience because God always works on His
timetable, not ours. Impatience can
cause us to take matters into our own hands and make mistakes as was the case
in Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 15 - 21).
When we combine these disciplines with discernment and
patience, we will have positioned ourselves to discover God’s handiwork working in our lives and in our world.
God plans include individuals, families, and nations. Have you been too busy or distracted to
notice what He is doing?
Prayer—Father I
confess my inattention to You today and I ask You to forgive me. Help me, Lord, to refocus my heart and mind
on You so that I can readily identify Your handiwork at work in my life, in
Jesus Name. Amen.
