I don't think God is working
Some days when you’re parenting young children, nothing can prepare you for what you encounter.
I had just reminded my early grade school-aged son that he needed to go take care of his chores, and his face twisted up in anger. He didn’t want anything to do with the responsibility we had laid on him. Doing his best to form his rage into words, he spat out at me, “Why don’t YOU do some chores around here? Why do my brother and I have to clean everything? You don’t do anything around here. All you do is go to ‘work’ every day.”
If I hadn’t been so irritated by the indignant tone he used to justify his outburst, I might have laughed out loud at his ignorance. But in that moment, my blood jumped immediately to a boil. Fortunately, my wife stepped in and sent our son off to do the task he had been given. I was both dumbfounded and aggravated that he would cast off the efforts of my career as being beneath the “slaving away” he was expected to do by sweeping the floors, or vacuuming the carpet, or cleaning a bathroom.
Since he didn’t hear from me while I was at work, he must’ve imagined “going to work” to be the same as going on a playdate in the park or seeing a movie. My wife and I agreed that he really had no idea what I did each day after I left the house. He didn’t understand the responsibilities I shouldered, or the reasons why I made the career choices I had. In his anger, he also had forgotten all the other things I did take care of around the house: the landscaping, the maintenance, the repairs, and yes, even some cleaning chores.
But man, the gall was real. He just didn’t see it. And due to his ignorance, he imagined that the tasks placed on him were unfair and that his situation was amiss. To top it all off, the one person he knew who could change his circumstances was the very one who put him there in the first place – and that guy obviously had no interest in helping him out of his sorry lot!
Looking back on the Christmas story, I think the Jewish nation probably felt a lot like my son did. Even though God had brought the nation back from exile, times had not been easy. Many nations opposed them reforming as a nation and even more so when they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. The Greeks came in and conquered the land, which then led to many revolt attempts, political turmoil, and ultimately the Romans came in as their new occupiers.
They knew the Messiah was coming…but they weren’t seeing any signs of it actually happening. It had been 400 years since God sent a prophet to the nation, and since that time – complete radio silence. Not one word from God. No encouragement or prophecy to rally the nation. And the last thing they heard generations ago from that last prophet went like this:
Malachi 4:4-6
Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statues and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.
The last thing God told them was to keep doing what He had already told them to do…and then God said nothing. After 400 years of silence, it would have been easy for them to yell at God: “Why don’t you do something about the state of the world? Why are we the ones left trying to clean it all up? You’re not doing anything of value, God. Your ‘work’ isn’t helping us at all!”
But as we look back at the first century, God was working, even if it was in a way the Jews couldn’t see or couldn’t understand as they went about their daily lives. The wars and the political upheaval brought about several changes to the world that helped rapidly spread Christianity in the first century. The Greeks brought a common language to the known world. The Roman rulership brought a relatively consistent peace in the land, as well as roads and civilization developments. Just these three changes meant that the news about the life, death, and resurrection of an obscure Jewish teacher could quickly spread throughout the known world as believers could safely move along the well-traveled roads from different regions and connect with new people through their shared language.
If I’m honest, the same thoughts can take hold in my mind when I don’t see God “working” in my life the way I think He should. It’s hard to remember that God is looking at things from a much higher vantage point than we are. Just like my son, it’s easy to get tunnel-visioned on our tasks and assume that we unfairly have to handle the brunt of everything.
In a few days, it’ll be Christmas. We celebrate together and remember the birth of Jesus, and the Apostle Paul describe the event this way:
Galatians 4:4
When the time came to completion, God sent His Son…
The timing of Jesus’ arrival wasn’t random or on accident. God sent Him at just the right time, when all His prep work had finally come to completion. He does the same for our lives, as well. Perhaps you think God isn’t moving fast enough…well, maybe he’s got some other work to do first. Fortunately, God handles our frustration-filled outbursts better than I did with my son. When we begin to feel that anxious anger because God hasn’t done what we wanted Him to do, we can cool down a bit as we remember how Christmas is the best example of God’s timing being the “best timing” and God’s work being the “best work” for us.
Keep Pressing,
Ken