Here’s a note I received from one of the Antioch Journey participants after she completed Day 3. Maybe you can relate to it, or perhaps God will speak to you as you read what she shared:
“Today I am struck by the concept of God’s concern with His workmanship and how this the foundation for the good works of His people. We are, before all, made in the image of God. While we rightly imagine that God desires us to be beautifully industrious, we sometimes forget that HE was the first laborer on earth. The Holy Spirit hovered over the waters, poised to create, long before we were given our creative abilities! In Ephesians 2:10, our labor for God sequentially follows His initial work in us. This is the great rhythm of life – to reflect back to God the things He has placed in us and to walk in the ways He has already marked out before us.”
“This truth invites me to rest in God. Even as I take a break from my email to meditate on this challenge, God is working. He is always doing something, forming my heart and hands to be like His. To know what good works are integral to my secondary calling, I must look to God’s initial work in me. This is not an empty ‘naval gazing’ activity, as I have heard it called. Instead, it is looking inward to God’s spiritual workmanship which gives me the ability to look outward to the works He has prepared. One of the most productive things I can do is take good stock of God’s activity in my life.”
“Tomorrow, I have a personal retreat planned. My agenda was to present my calendar and plans before God. I realize that, before doing this, I must spend time looking upward, inward and backward. I must see and worship God, considering how He has been moving in the world and my life. A confident pursuit of works is derived from understanding God’s unique workmanship in my life.”
