John 5:19-20 (NIV) “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”
Jesus’ M.O. (Modus Operandi) was to do what he saw the Father doing. He only did what he saw the Father doing, and he didn’t do what the Father wasn’t doing. This is the example that he has given to us as “the first born from among the dead” (see Colossians 1:18). Jesus is the one we are to follow. Now this is not rocket science for Christ-followers. However, I think that in practice it is not common to find Christ-followers doing it. Jesus said that he does what he “sees” his Father doing and not what he hears about his Father doing or knows his Father to be doing. Why did he make this distinction? Well, I have a hunch about why, and you can let me know if you agree with my hunch.
Imagine that you are entering a large room full of people whom you don’t know. As you scan the crowd you spot a familiar face. It is someone that you recognize out of the sea of faces. How do you respond? Chances are that your face lights up, you try to get their attention and you go to talk to them. I believe that this is the same kind of thing that takes place when we see what our heavenly Father is doing. In the midst of our day there are many things that we do, but when we see something that God is doing, it captures our attention. We are arrested by the things of heaven because they are so different from the stuff of earth. It beckons our attention and our presence because as Christ-followers we want to be part of heavenly-stuff.
Yet the trick is to recognize when the Father is doing his thing because often we are so caught up in doing our own thing that we miss it. This is the boastful pride of life which John tells us about in his first letter. (1 John 2:16) Our struggle is to let go of the mindset that we are the center of life and to hold on to the reality that the Lord is the center of the universe. This is the stuff of the world which must be purged from us by the renewing of our minds through God’s word. It is only at this point that we will “be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2, NIV) And yet, we may be very focused on studying the Bible and doing devotions and going to church and still fall prey to operating according to the principles of the world and not the truth and reality of God. What can get us out of the cycle of divided thinking – sometimes in tune with the Lord, sometimes not?
Back to Jesus. He was always in communion with the Father. He always saw what the Father was doing. If we are serious about moving forward, then we will hold on to the conviction that we too will only do what we see the Father doing. That means that we must get to prayer along with the word and determine that we will not move forward until we are able to see the Father and his work. I am on a quest to learn how to keep my eyes fixed on the Lord. For one thing, I don't like the alternative - bad things start to happen when I take my eyes off the Lord. Lots of things may sound good, but if I don’t see the Lord’s work, then I will stay away from it. And when I see the Lord doing something, then I know that I need to be a part of it regardless of the consequences.
To follow our example a little further, a different person who enters the room with lots of people will recognize different people. The same is true of the Lord. We may recognize the Lord doing different things at the same time through different people. This is where we need to stay close to the Lord ourselves and to not go beyond what he is showing us. He’s a big God, and when he shows us something it is because he is looking for our involvement. We must recognize God’s work as well as our own limitations. If we are to take this approach then I believe the results will be God-sized because His work is always amazing.Remember this too, the Father loves us and wants to show us what He is up to. Let’s take that truth into our next time of prayer.
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