Gateway Church's Podcast
What's God Doing?
I have for you today is titled what's God doing what's God doing if you brought your Bibles turned to Psalm 33 and Revelation chapter While you're turning there, let me just say that this question What's God doing is? One of the most common questions or at least the subject matter of that question is one of the most common things that I deal With is a pastor. I part of my function passed early is to help people figure out What's God doing and I I would venture to say that every one of us in the room today have one or more areas of our life where there's Situations or circumstances we're dealing with and we're asking the question What is God doing in this situation? Sometimes we ask it out of frustration Sometimes we ask it out of curiosity but almost every time that I've been asked the question help me figure out What God is doing it to ask out of sincerity by people really wanting to know? What is God doing in the situation of my life? So Psalm 33 if you're there, let's read in verse 13 the Lord looks from heaven He sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling. He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth He fashions their hearts Individually he considers all their works now just a reminder as we approach this subject today that you're not a number a statistic Something that God does in a generic way But he knows every person Individually and one of the things that he's doing in the circumstances of our life is he's fashioning his nature and character in us Individually that means he's working individually in the situations of your life and my life now that ought to be good news If you're dealing with something you're not dealing with it alone. You're not dealing with it in a way an uncaring Response from a god who's very distant and doesn't really know what your situation is he knows every situation all means All that and you and me are part of all so God regardless of what what you're dealing with today God is in the middle of your situation now turn to Revelation chapter 3 and I want to start in verse 20 because That's a verse that we're mostly Familiar with adventure to say you've you've heard this many of you maybe even you've memorized it Revelation 3 20. I'm gonna read this out of the message Bible So just follow along in your translation here if you've memorized it you can say it under your breath with me as well This is Jesus statement to the church at Laodicea, but we we quote it like this It it says look at me. I stand at the door I knock if you hear me call and open the door I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you now you may have memorized that verse you may be familiar with it I memorize the King James behold I stand at the door knock if anyone will hear my voice and open the door I'll come in and supple with him and he with me and anybody there in that response I always thought that was a response a salvation response But what what was being said there is God is knocking on the door of our heart He wants to come into our life and he does so at salvation. That's true today If you don't know Jesus Christ today, you'll have an opportunity at the end of the service to come down and receive Jesus as your personal Savior there's a claim that he's made on on your life and he's made provision for you to have eternal life through Jesus Christ He's knocking on the door of your life today. That is certainly true But if we put it in the context of the message that was to the church in Laodicea It carries far more meaning than that and that's what I want to look at if you'll go back to verse 17 We pick up the dialogue of what what Jesus was saying to the church. You brag I'm rich. I've got it made. I need nothing from anyone Oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful blind beggar thread bear and homeless Remember a few weeks ago pastor Robert talked about those that are poor in spirit and the the definition of poor In spirit is just what Jesus was declaring there you and I are poor in spirit today Whether we recognize it or not. So Jesus is saying you that say you're rich, but you're not in fact You are pitiful a blind beggar thread bear and homeless. Here's what I want you to do Now, here's the the insight when we say what's God doing? What God is doing for you and me is to bring us to a place of asking the question or Responding to what he's saying buy your gold from me gold that's been through the refiners fire Then you'll be rich buy your clothes from me clothes designed in heaven You've gone around half naked long enough and by medicine for your eyes from me. So you can see really see The people I love I call to account prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best Up on your feet then about face run after God and then we're back to verse 20 Look at me. I stand at the door I knock if you hear me call and open the door I'll come right in sit right down and sub with you and supper with you now Here's here's the issue that the Jesus is addressing there. There's the potential in our lives that we are We are unaware Either because of denial or because of self-sufficiency or some pride in our life We're unaware of our real condition part of the reason that we ask the question What's God doing is we really are unaware of what he might be trying to do and we get bogged down in the details Rather than seeing the big picture of what what God is doing or saying Jesus invites us to buy from him three things Gold which I believe represents our faith Gold is a commodity that when it's refined the refining process makes it even more pure The purest form of gold is almost like a mirror. You can see your reflection in it It is made into beautiful things and it's a trading commodity now think about your faith Without faith. It's impossible to please God. It's a it's a trading commodity of the kingdom of God It is turned into beautiful things Jesus numerous times in the New Testament said that that by someone's faith They would receive the work that that they've asked for in God. It's turned into something of precious work And it's made into beautiful things our faith produces those things Heavenly garments, I think represent the observable qualities of Godly character in our life and the I said that he's saying bye for me Medicine to put on your eyes. That's God's wisdom and understanding in the situations that we're in So Jesus comes and he knocks on the door of our heart and he says will you open the door and Buy from me these things these commodities For not careful. We just simply think well, how do I buy gold from Jesus? How do I buy garments from Jesus? He it's it's a process that I don't quite understand unless we take it out of the context of he's not talking about gold in The sense of gold. He's talking about a commodity like faith. He's not talking about heavenly garments. He's talking about our character He's not talking about medicine. He's talking about wisdom and understanding and how do we what what will we do? Will we open up the door of our life in order for God to put these things into it? Now sometimes I don't know if you're you're like me, but sometimes I I respond to God when he's knocking on the door of my Heart like I do a door-to-door salesman You ever had a door-to-door salesman come to your door We a few weeks ago Jan and I were in the house and we have these windows in the front of our house the blinds were open We saw this guy walking up our sidewalk and I said to Jan you get the door She said no you get the door. I said no, I'm not getting the door you get the door and we both had a door at the back of the house It's like we're we're not we're gonna pretend. We're not there Sometimes when Jesus knocks on the door of our heart. We're internally having this dialogue saying you get the door I'm not getting the door you get the door I'm not getting the door and we head to the back of the house Jesus in the situations of our life is knocking on our heart and he's saying Will you buy from me? Will you buy faith refined in the fire? Will you buy a character moral and spiritual character for your life that has been produced by my work in your life? Will you buy wisdom and understanding so that you can really see what I'm doing in your life? well It's a work that God's doing so we say what is God doing? And I've got some questions for us as we try and understand this process and the first is can we receive these things? And avoid God's refining work Is it possible to to just open the door? Grab the things that God would offer to us without going through a process of his refining look at Isaiah 48 and verse 10 Behold I have refined you but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction 1 Peter 1 6 and 7 in this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while if need be you've been grieved by various trials That the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire Maybe found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 4 12 Beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fire firey trial Which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings that when his glory is revealed You may also be glad with exceeding joy When we ask the question, what is God doing? I believe one of the greatest hindrances to understanding what God's doing is we become focused on the details of our situation as if they are the purpose of God's work and We completely miss the beer picture. Let me give you an example of this when I was 16 the first year I drove I had four accidents All of them unique in their situation and none of them my fault I'm fighting the urge to tell you about each one right now. Just so you don't understand lost my insurance two times during that first year and I was focused I had committed my life to Christ before these accidents took place and I was really wondering God What are you doing in these situations? I thought I know what he's doing. He doesn't want me to drive down this street anymore I drove down this street and because I went down this street I was involved in an accident because I I was out this late at night on a snowy night I slid on a road. That's what he's saying. Don't drive on snowy roads One day after my fourth accident. I Was contemplating these accidents. I was contemplating what had taken place in every one of these accidents and Kind of to me what was miraculous though each of them could have been serious It could have involved serious bodily harm none of them did None of them did and I I was thinking God You've really been awesome in protecting me and in the process of this work and just like that the Lord said to me I've been trying to reveal to you Todd Tom that I am Cover Hello God I've been trying to reveal to you Tom that I am sovereign in the events of your life that things that are taking place in you are bigger than you know yourself and now that you realize that I'm the one who Has his hand on your life? You'll not have another accident and I thought all right now Wouldn't you think that'd be good news for your dad who'd been paying for these repairs of these cars? I went and told my dad dad guess what God spoke to me today Hey, he was of the mind that God didn't really speak like I was Revealing didn't he didn't know God like I knew God at that point in his life And I said God spoke to me today, and I'm not gonna have another accident he went Right It was true It was true It was a sovereign work that God did and what God didn't want me to do is to be be bogged down in the the details of With each accident figure out God. What are you doing here? What are you doing here? What do you want to do is reload something far greater and hear me now don't get bogged down in this I'm not saying God caused the accidents. He didn't I'm not saying that that God worked in those situations to bring this about I am saying That he did a work through those things to reveal something far greater than the circumstances that I was dealing with I Don't know what situations you're dealing with today, but I can tell you apart above those Circumstance is something far greater that God wants to work in your life These circumstances are simply a refining work that God is doing now when I think of refining here's here's Here's what it means to me in my college years I spent five years working for my father-in-law who had a plumbing heating and cooling business and in the 70s Wasn't like it is today where you can plastic pipe and a little cleaner and glue and you you know connect a pipe and it's Connected we we had we dealt with cast iron pipe, especially underground cast iron pipe and links of four six Eight ten feet long with a bell hub on it We'd slide one piece of pipe into the bell hub then we put some yarn on the inside and we would take some molten lead and Put it around there and then caulk it in so that the the pipe didn't leak every truck in my my father-in-law's fleet had a furnace a little pot of propane gas like you use for your cooking your grill now a propane gas with a Latal on top that would be heated by the fire and we we had these five pound ingots of lead And so we'd pull a ingot out set it in the pot turn the pot on and no matter a few minutes The lead would be molten every time I put a ingot of of lead in there. It was silvery shiny almost like silver I could never see any impurities that were a part of it But every time it got heated there was always a black crusty film over the the lead in the pot that was molten That had to be straight away before we pour poured it into the to the bell of the cast iron pipe God is doing a work in us. He he's attached He's produced a situation that is not unlike a furnace pot in our life to turn up the heat So that some impurities Are revealed in our life so that they can be straight away and the true nature of what God is doing be revealed in our life Are you have you got a situation that's the the furnace has been the heat's been turned up a little and it's God's work To reveal something and he's saying will you buy from me the testing of your faith here Will you buy an increased measure of trust in me in the circumstances of your life even as this situation heats up Will you not look at the details of the specific details so much as the bigger picture of what I'm doing in your life? The good news About this as Romans 8 says we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called According to his purpose When God's doing a refining work in your life the refining work brings Empurities to the surface to be skimmed off and reveals things that produce the greatest quality and depth of relationship That you can have with God remember God is looking from heaven And he sees all the events of our life and his desire is to deepen the relationship that we have with him And so we can't escape their refiners work Second question is this What's chastising or chastisement? And can we avoid in this process being chastised by God? Job 5 17 says this behold happy is the man whom God corrects Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Lord for he bruises, but he binds up he wounds But his hands make whole Proverbs 3 11 says my son do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor to test his correction for whom the Lord loves He corrects just as a father the son in whom he delights Hebrews 12 5 says this and Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you? Speaks to you as to sons my son do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him For whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives now this word chastening We don't understand today. We don't understand it because it's really not a commonly used word in our English vocabulary And in your Bibles today depending on what translation you have it's probably translated discipline or correction And so we then draw it through the grid of our own experience and we think I know what correction is I know what discipline is In a day before today when I was growing up when my dad would he would apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge And I got the message Sometimes in the process of that I know that there are people in here today and you've been abused in a corrective process You've been you you have been penalized for the things that you've done wrong And so you equate every bit of correction from a penalizing standpoint it hurts It hurts you've been spanked hard. Maybe even abused multiple times. Maybe you've been hit in places You shouldn't have been hit. Maybe you've been spoken to an abusive way and so you think that's what God does with me And I'm not in to this chastising business But this word chastising doesn't mean that the word chastising actually is a word that means tutoring God is committed to tutoring us into the nature and character and qualities that he that reflect him and produce those things in our life If you've been hurt today by punishment by some abusive situation It's gonna be hard for you to receive the tutoring work of God because even in tutoring It's hard. It can be Embarrassing it can be Frustrating let me give you an example of this in my own life When I was about ten years old my dad I one summer I decided I wanted to mow yards and so I Convinced my dad to allow me to use the family lawnmower in canvas the neighborhood to to get some lawn business I finally found a family a lady that would there's a widow lady that lived a couple blocks over from us Who said she would allow me to mow her yard and she told me when she agreed to it There was early in the week and she said now I need my yard mode before the weekend because I'm having family guests in town And I'm all I want my yard to look great. I said yes, ma'am. I'll be back and I'll take care of it So each day went by and there was always something in the day that came up then, you know, I'll do it tomorrow I don't want to do it today You know, I've got I want to take care of this and finally Friday came and a bunch of my friends were playing ball down at the school yard and They asked me to come play and I thought I Guess I don't really want to mow yards this summer. Anyway, so I blew it off and Went to play ball with my friends We're sitting at dinner that night and my dad the phone rang my mom answered the phone and she said oh really now Sometimes Oh really is not a good thing And she said I'm sure Jim will want to talk to you just a minute so then my dad gets up and goes over the phone I'm still eating my dinner and I think everything's okay. It's you know, it's cool and So my dad says is that so all Really now when your dad says oh really that's really not good and he said he did did he He said we'll be right over and he hangs up the phone and he said did you tell mrs Jones that you would mow her yard by today and I went Well Then I don't want to mow yards this summer and he said too late You committed you made a commitment and get your stuff. We're going to more yard right now. I said dad I'm not done eating he said get your stuff. We're going right now and he walked over with me me pushing the lawn more Walked over to this lady's house and stood on the front porch talking to the lady with his arms folded while I mowed the arch and you miss that spot right there right there come back come back make the line Straight and don't miss any spots. Follow your wheel mark in the in the grass I mean it was humiliating and this lady had this smurky smile on her face. She was enjoying the whole thing Got to edging the the sidewalks and things like that my dad said come here I mean you you missed this part right here Then he then he had me sweep all the grass and pick it up and then to make things totally worse He wouldn't let her pay me After all this work. He wouldn't let her pay me. What was my dad doing? tutoring me I Was under a point of chastisement by my father for what I had done and he was creating in me a nature and a character That lived true to my word Not unlike what God does in the circumstances of our life He chastises us not to punish us. Jesus took the penalty for all of our sins and failure It's a tutoring mechanism. It's he's training us in something that is developing his nature and character in our life well One other thing I just want to say in this and that is God uses people and situations To chase and us as his sons and daughters You know it'd be nice if we could say oh God I just accept any of your correction in my life any of your work to tutor me in my life But he does it in the context of a of a work extended through people second Samuel 7 and in verse 12. This is God's statement to David about his son Solomon This is what he says when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever I will be his father and he shall be my son if he commits a nickel an equity I will chastise him for the with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I removed from before you and your house in your kingdom Shall be established forever before you your throne shall be established forever God uses people and situations to bring his chastisement into our life When Jan and I had been married about Five or six years we developed a friendship with a pastor And the friendship involved us going over to their house for dinner and and different things and it was a friendship They got to see us in our natural state so to speak and One day we're over it at the house and this guy was about maybe 10 or 12 years older than I was and he said Can I talk to you in a minute and I said sure and he said Have you ever noticed that when you tell stories about Jan you always tell him in a bad light? What I what I felt like saying was shut up We're here to have dinner and to have fun and we're not here to get a lecture I said really Hiding the true nature of my things. I said really what do you mean? So he started telling me about situations that he had observed and stories that I'd tell him on Jan that were Embarrassing to her. I thought they were funny They were funny because they were at her expense. I wasn't telling him on myself What was he doing? tutoring me chastising me for my behavior No chastisement seems pleasant for the moment. This is my third point in my last one How can we be trained? By what we've experienced Hebrews 12 11 says no chastising seems to be joyful for the present but painful Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it The word the statement peaceable fruit of righteousness. It means a satisfied state of observable Moral and spiritual character. Here's the thing. It's possible for us to go through a process a process of refining a process of chastising and Miss the training mechanism that God has in that moment Do you do you and I want to have the character the nature of God developed in our life if the answer to that is yes I can tell you regardless of the circumstances if you want to know what God is doing God's looking down from heaven in Individually into your situation fashioning your heart and life into his nature If you want to be trained by it, here's what it means the word trained means to practice in a completely vulnerable state When I played football every once in a while usually toward the end of the week We would go out to practice and we would be I was a offensive tied in in a defensive end and the lineman The regular guys would be in full pads and helmets and it'd be full speed practice and the quarterback Would be in a helmet t-shirts and shorts and the coach would say I don't want anybody to touch the quarterback No tackling no, no the quarterback in this instance was practicing in a completely vulnerable state If any one of us guys while we were practicing in in full contact If we would have slid off and thought you know now's my time to get the guy I'm gonna make a point. I'm gonna I've got an open shot and I'm gonna tackling If anyone of us would have made that statement that we they would have carried the quarterback off in stretcher The quarterback had to depend upon the authority of the coach in this situation in order to practice in a completely vulnerable state he had the option to go back in and put on his pads put on his shoulder pads and come and protect himself or He could trust in the coach's whistle and in his ability His authority to keep us from from causing injury to our our quarterback in this scenario God's the coach in our lives The question is if we're gonna be trained by this so that the the observable qualities of Spiritual and moral character are developed into our life. We're gonna have to put our trust in God We're gonna have to practice in a completely vulnerable state so that what he desires can be produced in our life Bow your head if you