God's Plan

How do we know if someone is doing God's work or not?

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, so that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’ When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. Then he said to them, ‘Fellow-Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them in that case you may even be found fighting against God!’ They were convinced by him, and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. - Acts 5:27-42

The Pharisee, Gamaliel, makes a case in favor of the apostles by saying their work will fail if it is not from God.  In other words, if what we do is for our own gain, we will fail, but if it is for God's glory it will succeed.

I am not sure that should apply to everything.  If it did, we wouldn't stop anyone from doing anything.  Instead, we would wait to see if the movement failed on its own.

That's the decision they made regarding the apostles and that movement didn't fail.  It thrived.  So, it must be God's plan, right?

If God is pulling the strings, that would always be the case.  There would be no need to intervene to stop a movement or protest.  All would eventually work itself out.

But that's not what happens.  So, God's plan may be to have us use our own judgment, to do what is right.  And that's the tricky point.  How do we know if we are in the right or not?

We may think we are doing God's work, because we are doing what we think is right, but what if we are reading the situation the wrong way?

I guess the challenge is to discover whether we are doing God's will or using God as justification for doing our will.

So, when we find ourselves succeeding and think we must be doing the right thing, we might just want to take a moment to ask ourselves if we truly believe God is behind us, or if it is all for our own benefit.

More to come...