John 5:17 English Standard Version (ESV) But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Do we see God at work around us? For some that is an easy answer and for others it is not so obvious. 

Living by faith means we do not always get to see the hand of God in every action. Faith becomes active when it is clear to us what God is asking of us. God does not always ask of us and takes care of things in the background without taking credit for His involvement.

Luke 19:37 English Standard Version (ESV) As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,

That is the easy part, to praise Him for what we have seen. What of the hidden things? Do we give HIm praise and honor in those things that go right for us without any obvious involvement?

Luke 19:38 English Standard Version (ESV) saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

We are blessed to have Him rule and reign in our hearts. We can give Him glory and honor for being the Lord of our lives. He is involved in our lives every day but He is so loving and kind, so gracious and humble that we do not get to see outwardly every little thing that He does for us.

That should not stop us from believing by faith that He is working on our behalf every day in some way. 

1 Samuel 6:9 English Standard Version (ESV) “and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

The only reference to coincidence in the ESV found in 1 Samuel chapter 6. It is no coincidence that seeing the hand of God at work was given in this chapter. Two milk cows were yoked in service to bring the Ark to Beth-shemesh. Two Philistine milk cows found their way without the direction of an ox driver. Only the Lord could do such a thing.

Was it a coincidence or the Lord? Only faith can say with any confidence what is true.

Ezekiel 36:26 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Our closing comment yesterday was: “When we gave our hearts to Christ that became the center of right choices.” Giving our hearts to Christ and having the indwelling Spirit creates a new heart that is no longer hardened. This new heart is one that loves as God loves. That is how it can become the seat of right choices.

Hebrews 3:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV) do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,     on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.

The wilderness journey was one where they followed God by cloud during the day and fire by night. They did not have a changed heart. All their choices were mental and influenced by the flesh. They saw what God did for forty years and yet all the generations that entered into the promised land were born in the wilderness, the rest died there.

We were lucky enough to be born after the work of the cross of Christ and have the opportunity to believe and receive according to God’s promises. One promise is that Christ would rule and reign in the hearts of those who love Him.

Colossians 3:15 English Standard Version (ESV) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

We are distracted by things in the world and in so doing the peace of Christ takes second place in our minds. Distractions are not sin unless they cause us to act in a manner that interferes with His ruling in our hearts. This is why it is important to renew our minds to learn what Christ is doing in our hearts that now belong to Him.

I can confess what distracts me but each of us has to decide for ourselves what it is that pulls our focus away from Christ and onto things of the world.

For me it is world events, politics, economy, advertising, and the actions of the inconsiderate.

We are not to be ignorant of all these things but we are not to be controlled by them.