We’ve heard the typical statement from believers that they want to be “busy doing
the Lord’s work.” Many struggle with trying to find out just what that work is,
so they “busy” themselves with their involvement in many activities revolving
around their participation in their “church’s” calendar of “events.”
However, in considering just what “the Lord’s work” is, Paul told the Philippians that “... it is
God which worketh in you ...” (2:13). What this implies is that if there is any work to be done,
then it is not the believer who should be doing it – God is already doing the work! So what is
“the Lord’s work?” The Lord’s work is Him working in the believer!
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We have a tendency to over-analyze and try to come up with the details, i.e., the why, how
and wherefore of whatever it is about God that we want to understand; but that is a lot of
“work.” What we should be “doing” is just believing – believing what God said, and trusting
that He is doing whatever He is doing in us.
When we “busy” ourselves in the struggle to know/try/do the Lord’s will, we insert ourselves
into the vicious cycle of feelings of frustration and failure that are the inevitable result of selfeffort,
which only gets in the way of the true work of the Lord.
Yet God has really made it quite easy to know just what it is He is doing, just what His work is.
The rest of the verse tells us that God is working in us “to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Wow! That is easy. It doesn’t say that He is working in the believer to go on Tuesday night
visitation, or attend Wednesday night prayer vigils, or participate in Thursday night choir
practice, or even, dare we say, go to “church.”
So if we have a desire (will) to accomplish something (do) in our lives, and it is done in faith
and love ensuring that it doesn’t hurt anyone (Romans 13:10), then it is God who has given
that to us, and then what we do will please God. This is Christ living out His life in the believer.
Isn’t that a wonderful thing, to know that we are pleasing God in this manner, that God takes
delight, pleasure and satisfaction in us when we believe, trust and rest in His work?
It really is o.k. to do things, when we acknowledge that God is God, and that He is the one
directing our lives (c.f. Proverbs 3:6). Let’s get out of God’s way so that His work can finally
be accomplished in our lives.
It’s so much easier to leave the details to God, and let Him “worry” about being busy doing
His own work. That way we can rest, and enjoy our lives. If we need to know something, let’s
allow God to reveal it to us in His own time and manner.
As it has been said, quit trying, and start trusting. Let God work out the details, and begin
enjoying your life in Him.
B I B L E S T U D E N T ’ S P R E S S ™
Study Shelf, PO Box 265, Windber, PA 15963
1-800-784-6010 / www.StudyShelf.com
Taken from the Bible Student’s Notebook™, a weekly Bible study publication available in two
formats (electronic and printed)
www.BibleStudentsNotebook