The Way God Works
By Rev. Scott Phillips
By Rev. Scott Phillips
The sequence of God's creation is interesting thing ponder. To consider
the process that he works within to bring about his purpose. It seems to be a
universal law of process that God has confined himself to.
He first creates a void, a vessel, a vacuum to then fill it with his unfolding plan. In creating the Heaven and the earth notice the progression.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen 1:1-2
We see this process duplicated again in his making man.
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Gen 2:7
You see this throughout creation, he first created the vacuum of space and the area of earth and then he began to fill it with the progression of his plan. Much like building a building, you must first find the land, prepare the land,lay the foundation and so on. This may be simplistic, but it is
interesting to consider this when we survey the work of God in our own lives.
So much of what God does is preparatory for a future phase. Even in the purpose
of his incarnation what he left was the material that he would build his church with.
"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone;"
In surveying God's great love story with Israel we see that all of these were
but preparatory works for what would be realized in the Church. What we see as
a type and shadow in the Old Testament, we can see the realization in the New Covenant.
His purpose was to create a carrier of the continuing purpose of his will. Line up on line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.
I believe that in the New Heaven and the New Earth we will see this continuing
purpose unfolding toward an infinite and eternal place that Only God knows.
So often it is our nature to become distracted by the details and fail to
understand God's overall purpose. There are so many characters in scripture that lived their whole lives and we find that they fulfilled some purpose in a time that they did not understand or foresee the consequences. Look at Boaz; he did not really understand that his great grandson would be the King of Israel. He did not understand that the compassion he showed a little handmaid was a part of God's ultimate purpose that we see an even more significant character spring from in the young man that became King David.
There is interconnectivity in God's creation and God's plan. When we yield
ourselves to that plan, we may not always understand what it is we are accomplishing at the particular moment, but if we can labor in hope, pray in faith and walk with an understanding that even our insignificant times are significant in God's economy. The investment of our faith and effort into God's plan can produce a ministry, a church and things that are hard for us to fathom even in those times we feel, see and hear very little that would confirm this reality.
It does not happen by accident on our part. It is my opinion that when we understand the ways of God we are able to walk and pray in faith that is not confirmed by the things we would discern with our natural senses. Like a farmer sowing, if he knows and believes in the seed he will with patience prepare sow and nurture the growth of the future fruit. It is our ability to see beyond a place of faith, a place of emptiness, a place of a vacuum, a place that is unfilled that God moves in and speaks in. God works within the environment of Faith. It may seem empty, unseen, unfelt, but it is nevertheless a place God created for his word and his breath to speak and breath miracles.
The bottom line is our lives, our bodies, our existence, our labor, our prayers, our words are containers, vessels, soil from which his work can come forth.
In prayer the other day I saw a young plant and on it was one single large fruit. I knew because I could see inside this that it was abundant with seed. It was as if the Lord spoke to me and said that within this single fruit were the seeds of many wonderful things.
I don't know if that fruit was something that is present or future. However the
real message of this picture is faith. Faith sees the potential, faith
sees beyond the present condition.
We are walking, working and praying and believing. It is through this action
that we allow ourselves to be vessels and conduits from which God's purpose; yea even his will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
This place of transcending our circumstance and feelings. We no longer speak words that are empty, but we speak his words. We no longer walk in our own strength, but we walk in his strength. We listen with our senses but we hear, see, perceive and understand things that only God can cause us to know.
Mmmmmm.. Just thinking about the way God works.
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