Caution: God at Work

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him…And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” – Isaiah 30:18, 21

I love these verses because they demonstrate an active, loving God: He longs, He rises, He speaks. God did not give us an instruction manual, the Bible, and then sit down on His throne and watch what transpires from heaven. Instead, He is there when we have problems. He is working behind the scenes. The Holy Spirit tells us which way to turn so we don’t get lost.

I know that God does not sit idly, watching our life take place. And that is a good thing because there will be times in all of our lives when we simply don’t understand how God is working. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t align with what we can grasp with our minds. It doesn’t fit into the way we believe things happen in this world. But remember this. God keeps His promises, God gives you the right instructions according to His perfect will and He won’t mislead you. No matter how much you don’t understand life as it is right now – no matter how uncomfortable it may seem or how hard it gets, don’t worry. The same God who spoke life into you, the same God who is and knows the beginning and the end, the same God who knew you before the foundation of this world is with you. Knowing that, what can stand against you?

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” I believe that when you come to the place where you trust God, you will rest in the knowledge that He has everything under control even when life seems to be out of control. Trusting God will get you to the point where you make a decision to trust in Him and not in your own logic and understanding.

God doesn’t expect us to understand everything He’s doing. It’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to want to know more. It’s normal to think what’s happening just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. And we will experience a whole variety of emotions along the way.

The reality is, we will never fully grasp all God is doing this side of heaven. But, He does want us to really know this with all our hearts: He loves us and He’s working on our behalf in ways beyond what we can even comprehend.

Discussion Questions:
1. Do you sometimes feel that God is stringing you along? Why or why not? Why is it difficult to not be afraid? Or anxious, because it will all be worked out in the end?
2. How would you rate your trust in God?
3. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 20:24 says, “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way? What do those two verses mean to you?
4. Pray and ask God to give you courage to completely trust in Him, even when you can’t see or understand what is going on around you.