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My Father is always working, and so am I.—Jesus, John 5:171
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From one man [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.—Acts 17:262
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We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.—Oswald Chambers3
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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”—Jeremiah 29:114
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My child, I have a message for you today; let Me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise, and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your inmost soul; use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. This thing is from ME.
Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, who never consult your taste, who put you in the background? This thing is from Me. I am the God of circumstances. You came not to your place by accident; it is the very place God meant for you.
Have you not asked to be made humble? See then, I have placed you in the very school where this lesson is taught; your surroundings and companions are only working out My will.
Are you in money difficulties? Is it hard to make both ends meet? This thing is from Me, for I am your purse-bearer and would have you draw from and depend upon Me. My supplies are limitless.5 I would have you prove My promises. Let it not be said of you, “In this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God.”6
Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This thing is from Me. I am the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I have let earthly comforters fail you, that by turning to Me you may obtain everlasting consolation.7 Have you longed to do some great work for Me and instead have been laid aside on a bed of pain and weakness? This thing is from Me. I could not get your attention in your busy days and I want to teach you some of My deepest lessons. “They also serve who only stand and wait.” Some of My greatest workers are those shut out from active service, that they may learn to wield the [best] weapon of all—prayer.
This day I place in your hand this pot of holy oil. Make use of it freely, My child. Let every circumstance that arises, every word that pains you, every interruption that would make you impatient, every revelation of your weakness be anointed with it. The sting will go as you learn to see Me in all things.—Laura A. Barter Snow8
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Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.—Psalm 139:169
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We think and plan in temporal terms, and God thinks and plans in eternal terms. What this means is that we are very interested in right now, and God is much more interested in eternity. We want what “feels good” right now, what produces immediate results, but God is willing to invest time. God is an investor; He will invest a lot of time in us because He has an eternal purpose planned for our lives.
God sees and understands what we don’t see and understand. He asks us to trust Him, not to live in carnal reasoning and be frustrated because things don’t always go according to our plan.
Jesus spent thirty years in preparation for a three-year ministry. … Jesus had what I call “silent years,” and so did many other Bible heroes who were mightily used by God.
The birth of Jesus was recorded in Luke chapter 2. He was circumcised when He was eight days old according to the Law, and shortly after, He was dedicated in the temple, but we hear nothing else about Him in the Scriptures until He was twelve years old. Then, we find Him in the temple sitting among the teachers and asking questions.10
The only things I can find in the Word of God regarding those silent years is that He grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.11
Between the ages of twelve and thirty, Jesus had more silent years—eighteen years when nobody heard anything about Him. He had to be doing something. What? After His parents found Him in the temple when He was supposed to have gone home with them, they took Him back with them: “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother kept and closely and persistently guarded all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man.”12
This is another way of saying, “He grew.”
Just as Jesus grew during this quiet time, so you and I must grow in many things, and the silent years help provide that growth.—Joyce Meyer13
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God is hardly ever in a hurry! It takes Him time to make a baby, a flower, a tree, a sunset, or even a blade of grass.
Once when I was in a big hurry to do something, the Lord spoke to me with the following illustration: It takes time to build a house. First, you must lay the foundation solidly, then lay brick upon brick and stone upon stone, firmly with mortar, each piece fitting accurately—and you cannot do this in a hurry or your wall will crumble. Then the roof must be laid securely, beam upon beam, rafter upon rafter, roofing tile upon roofing tile. Then come the plasterers; then the finishers to hang windows and doors, lay floor coverings, and finally paint. Then at last, you have a building fitly joined together—a beautiful sight to see—a well-made structure built slowly and well to last!—David Brandt Berg14
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I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.
—Attributed to an unknown Confederate soldier
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In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.—Proverbs 16:915
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Do you need Me?
I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.
I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.
Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.
I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.
Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I am in all.
Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.
I am there because I have to be, because I am.
Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.
I am the love that is the law's fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.
Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.
Beloved, I am there.—James Dillet Freeman16
Published on Anchor March 2013. Read by Bryan Clark.
Music by John Listen.
1 NLT.
2 NIV.
3 My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Discover House Publishers, 1989).
4 NIV.
5 Philippians 4:19.
6 Deuteronomy 1:32.
7 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17.
8 Charles E. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, Volume 1 (Zondervan, 1965).
9 NIV.
10 Luke 2:41–51.
11 Luke 2:40.
12 Luke 2:51–52.
13 Enjoying Where You Are on the Way to Where You Are Going (FaithWords, 2002).
14 More Like Jesus (Aurora Production, 2001).
15 NIV.
16 Written in 1947 after the death of his wife.
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