Inmates Working??

Last week my wife and I went to Charlotte North Carolina to go to the Nascar race. We had gone down on Wednesday and left to return home on Monday. We travel back and forth from Charlotte to home on I 81 and 77. This time as we were traveling home we had seen a sign that said "Inmates working". We started to look for these inmates as we were riding along that stretch of road. The problem was we didn't see any inmates anywhere but we did see lots of orange garbage bags laying along the side of the road for several miles. We surmised that the powers that be just forgot to take down the signs after the inmates were done picking up the trash along the highway. We didn't see the inmates but we did see the results of their work. The evidence that they had been there were those trash bags.

We often wonder about how God works in our lives or the lives of other people. We are told in His Word that God is at work in people's lives but sometimes it is tough to see what it is that He is doing. More often than not, we see His results in lives of people and marvel what it was that He did. Like the inmates, I didn't see them but I did see their results. God operates in much the same way. Just because we can't see Him doesn't mean that He isn't there or isn't accomplishing something in a person's life. I can recall in my own life how many times I was surprised about how God worked in my life and I wasn't even aware He was doing anything. He wants to do so much for us and to shape and transform us into the image of His Son. He does things in so many different ways. He doesn't always do the work the same way each time. We can trust that He will do what He promised in His word. He said He will do the work that is needed. We need to be willing to let Him do it in His way and in His time. Don't let the enemy deceive you into thinking God is not doing anything for you or in you. Sometimes it is necessary for us to step back and ask Him to show us what He is doing and what He wants to do.

As I thought about it, the work God does in our lives is not too far from what the inmates did along the highway. The inmates picked up trash from the highway and God is desiring to remove the "trash" from our lives to make us holy. I hope you will let Him do His work in you!