My Father works
I want to speak to you today about the work of God: that we may contemplate together the saying of our Lord Jesus Christ, “My Father has been working until now, and I am also working.”
My Father works
God works continually, at all times and in every moment. When God rested on the seventh day, He merely moved from the work of creation to the work of care and providence. It was said of Him that He “neither slumbers nor sleeps.”
He works with everyone:
With all kinds of persons, whatever their nature: with Thomas the doubter, Peter the impulsive, and John the son of promise. With Samson the mighty, and with Jacob the fearful…
Do not think that God will one day dispense with you, or ignore you, or refuse to work with you. For God is ready to work in every human being.
God works in Andrew the ignorant fisherman, and works in Paul the philosopher.
God uses everyone—even the sin of man, from which God may bring forth good…
The betrayal of Judas was used by God for the sake of salvation, and likewise the cowardice of Pilate and the envy of the chief priests. Anything that falls into the hand of God, He can work with it. So be assured that God will work through you…
The work of God does not depend on your worthiness, as much as it depends on the power of God, who brings sweetness out of the strong…
Who said that Peter—who feared a servant girl, and cursed and swore saying, “I do not know the Man”—was fit to stand before governors and rulers?!
Who said that Jacob who deceived his father, or Jeremiah who did not know how to speak because he was a youth, or Moses who was slow of mouth and slow of tongue, were fit for leadership and for bearing the message of God?!
Scripture is true: God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong, and the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and has also chosen the despised and the things that are not.
Therefore, place yourself in the hand of God. Say to Him: Work in me, O Lord, anything. Employ me in any work; You know Your work best… Believe me, if God were to choose only the suitable elements for His work, none of us would be fit for anything! For none of us is righteous!
In His work, God can use the worm that ate the plant, and He can use the plant itself, to preach to the great prophet Jonah!!
Even the worm can do a work in the kingdom, if it submits itself to the hand of God. Is it not amazing that God even used the donkey of Balaam?! God is ready to work in the weak and in the strong. He is ready to use five loaves to satisfy five thousand. “For the battle is the Lord’s, and God is able to conquer with many or with few.”
Therefore, it is not fitting for anyone to excuse himself from the work of God because of little talents, for the matter is not about human abilities or capacities!! If it were we who would work, such a saying might be acceptable. But it is a work that God Himself will do, not us…
When Gideon brought thirty thousand to fight with, God refused this great number “lest Gideon attribute the victory to the multitude.” And God chose three hundred from them, and He brought victory through them, and God was glorified in the few.
Therefore, do not excuse yourself for being little, and do not flee from serving God.
Do not excuse yourself for lack of ability, for it is not your ability that will work, but God.
David did not go to Goliath by himself, but said, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” And Peter said regarding the healing of the lame man, “Not by our own power nor godliness have we made this man walk”… It is God who works.
And God works everything. He is the physician who heals our souls, bodies, and spirits. He is the engineer who placed the laws of the heavens. He is the builder, for “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” He is the guard who watches over the city. He is the good teacher. He is the sower who went out to sow. He is the servant who “came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
And we glorify God when we find Him entering into every work and accomplishing it Himself.
God is ever-working:
Continually, never ceasing from work. Even on the cross, He was promising the thief paradise, entrusting Mary to John, giving John a bitter blessing, interceding for His crucifiers, and not limited to redemption alone.
Even during His death, His spirit—united with His divinity—descended and brought out from Hades those who had fallen asleep in hope, and entered them into paradise, along with the right-hand thief.
The work of Christ did not end with redemption, nor with His ascension to heaven, nor with His saying on the cross “It is finished,” for He works until now. He says, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…” He gives an example of continual work.
In all this He gives us a model to work continually for His kingdom…
When He created Adam, He gave him work in paradise—not that he needed to earn his bread, for goodness was abundant—but for the blessing and benefit of work. The one who does not work leaves himself to thoughts, laziness, and loss…
God works in silence and humility:
He works in complete quiet, in silence, and perhaps in hiddenness… How often His work is attributed to some of His children, that they may be glorified through it…
You may ask for His help, and He offers it to you through the Virgin, or the Archangel Michael, or Saint George, or one of the living humans, and He hides Himself while His children appear. So you must feel the hand of God in every good that reaches you.
You may think God has forgotten you, or that He is silent and not working, while He is deeply at work for your sake without you knowing.
So much so that David the prophet reproaches the Lord saying, “Why do You stand afar off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?!” (Ps. 11). And God was not hiding, but working in silence. The disciples thought He was asleep in the boat while the waves beat around them, and reproached Him saying, “Do You not care that we are perishing?!”… But at that very moment He was caring for them, and had it not been so, they would have drowned… He answers with the same saying, “My Father has been working until now, and I am also working.”
It is impossible for God to hide in times of trouble, otherwise the distress would swallow us. But from the bitterness of our souls we complain. If we had the eye of faith, we would see the work of God clearly, and see that those who are with us are more than those who are against us.
God, the Ruler of all, neither slumbers nor sleeps… Do not think He is far from you in your problems. He observes everything and works for your sake.
Imagine a man like Jonah. The waves raged until the ship nearly overturned, Jonah was thrown into the sea, and the great fish swallowed him. Was God silent through all this?! No. Jonah cried out from the belly of the fish, and God said to him: Do not fear; I prepared the fish to swallow you. Everything happened according to My plan. The fish will carry you safely and deliver you whole to where I will…
God was not unaware of Jonah when the fish swallowed him, nor of Daniel when he was cast into the lions’ den, nor of the three youths in the fiery furnace. Troubles surrounded them, and God worked for their good…
Daniel sensed His work and said with joy, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths.” And the three youths sensed His work, for they saw Him walking with them in the furnace, and He did not allow the fire to have power over their bodies nor over their clothes. Not a single hair of their heads was singed, nor a single thread of their garments burned.
Could the three youths doubt the intervention of God and His work?
The king commands worship to his gods, and God seems silent. Then the three youths are seized, and God seems silent!! The king orders the furnace heated exceedingly, and God seems silent! The youths are taken to the furnace, and God seems silent! They are thrown into the fire! And through all this God seems silent!
But God was working in silence, and His work appeared at the right time.
It is the devil who fights us by claiming that God is not working! Therefore David said, “O Lord, why have those who afflict me increased?… Many are they who say of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’” But is there really no salvation?! David continues and says, “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head…” (Ps. 3).
No matter how long the time, the Lord must come, even in the fourth watch… No matter how much the waves rise, the Lord will come walking on the water, “treading on the pride of the sea when its waves rise; He stills them”…
Therefore, be assured…
Be assured of the work of God, and trust with all your depths that He works. Say as David said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 22). “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rise against me, in this I am confident” (Ps. 26)… For faith begets assurance.
It is beautiful to trust in the work of God, to be comforted by His care, His protection, and His providence. In all our matters, we remember that God works, so we rest and rejoice. The phrase “My Father has been working until now” is without doubt a comforting phrase.
The Father works, and the Son also works, and the Holy Spirit works with us, and we enter with Him into spiritual communion… The whole Trinity works with us, and all the powers of heaven, and the spirits of the saints, and the ambassadors of Christ on earth.
“Do not the angels of God encamp around those who fear Him and deliver them? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1)
It is a comforting phrase: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace”…
Yet God works at the right time and in the right way.
He works with wisdom and patience, preparing everything and arranging. So do not worry. Rather, wait for the Lord. Wait confidently… Say that this matter will be solved by the Lord. God will be glorified in it. I am confident.
Work with Him:
And in your trust in the work of the Lord, work with Him… Say also, “My Father has been working until now, and I am also working.” Do not be lazy.
God works in us, and with us, and through us. And we are instruments in His hand.
Say to Him: I will work with You, O Lord, but I do not hide from You my weakness. I possess nothing but five smooth stones from the valley, and I have no weapon but these to fight Goliath. And trust that God will say to you: These five stones are too many; I will make you triumph with one of them. Keep the other four as a remembrance… And you will say to the Lord, “Forgive my weak faith, for I brought five stones. You have taught me by experience that one is enough, for my Father has been working until now.”
-
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in Al-Keraza Magazine, Year Six – (Issue Thirty-Two), 8-8-1975.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
