When God Does a Deep Work in You

Hebrews 12: 11 - 14, Now no chastening 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. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: NKJV

Did you know that God is at work in your life today? Paul tells us in Philippians 1: 6 that He (God) who has begun a good work in you will perform until the day of Jesus Christ. After you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, your heavenly Father began, at that very moment, to work all things together for your good. You may not know why you're going through the circumstances you're facing, but you can be sure of one thing; God is using it to cause you to mature spiritually. 

Just like me, I'm sure you have had some setbacks, some disappointments, and some losses that didn't make sense at the time. Even so, I have discovered that those were the seasons in my life when God was doing the deepest work in my heart. Many times, we can only see what we have to face or endure at the moment; we don't always realize the work that is taking place within us. Nevertheless, others will witness a change in us. 

Now that we've established the fact that God is very much at work in our lives, let's address the reason for this work. We know that God is transforming us into the image of Christ through our suffering. However, He is also preparing us to fulfill His purpose in the earth. Has the Lord ever instructed you to obey a specific instruction or direction for your life, but you felt so overwhelmed by it that you ignored Him? Most of will have to answer, "Yes," to that question. When God told Moses to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt, he responded to God with doubt about his abilities. As a result of Moses's low self-esteem and lack of faith, God began to show him a series of miracles. God did this work in Moses's presence so that Moses would know God and would place his trust in Him. These miracles produced faith in Moses so that he could step out in faith in God's ability... and not consider his own inability. As we know, Moses successfully brought God's people out of bondage.

I want to give you one more example of when God had to do a deep work in a person's heart before He could get him to agree to fulfill God's purpose through him. Jonah was a preacher whom God had chosen to deliver a message of warning and repentance to a country called Nineveh. We know that Jonah was very reluctant and even rebellious toward God's instructions to warn Nineveh of the impending destruction against their nation. It was because he ran from the presence of God, instead of humbling himself, that God caused some events to transpire in Jonah's life that weren't so favorable. While he was on a boat and on the run from God, God caused a storm to be stirred up so that the men on the boat feared for their lives. As a result of this storm, the men realized that Jonah had brought this trouble upon them. Therefore, they agreed to throw the evangelist overboard into the sea.

When they cast Jonah out of the boat, he sank to the depths of the sea and drowned. He literally died while he was on the bottom; nevertheless, God caused a great fish to swallow him. Jonah remained there for three days; and on the third day, God had the fish vomit him up on the shore. It was after these unfortunate events that Jonah obeyed God. Which do you believe was tougher in the natural for Jonah to do? Was it harder for him to endure the experience in the sea or to obey God? To me, it would seem much easier to warn a nation than to have to face death and be swallowed by a fish. However, the Lord instructed me to use Jonah's story as an example to establish a spiritual principle about obedience. Like Jonah, many times, we would rather face the sea than to obey God's instructions because we are in need of God's work inside our hearts. 

Peter tells us not to think it strange when we find ourselves in the midst of a fiery trial. Peter had learned that as a servant of Christ, we have to endure seasons when God has to work "in" us so that He can work "through" us. By knowing this truth today, you should be filled with joy, even though in the physical, you still have to face hard situations. God is working it all together for your good. He will get the glory in the end... and you will obtain the victory. 

Walking By Faith,
Pastor Asa Dockery