Chugging Along (Friday Devotional)

In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

- John 5:17

For the better part of a month now, my son Andrew’s favorite toy has been a remote controlled Polar Express train and track. Every morning begins the same way, with him darting to the playroom to connect the engine, coal car, and coach cars, then get it chugging along the track. The Polar Express has become a permanent fixture of the playroom floor.

But now that the novelty has worn off, I’ve noticed something about how he plays with his train. When he first got it, he’d lay on the ground watching it with a level of attention I didn’t know his 3-year old self could muster. He’d press every button on the remote, making the train go forward then backward, making it whistle, and prompting the automated recording to call out, “All aboard!” But now, he’s more likely to turn the train on, get it running along the track, then move on to another toy as it continually chugs along.

So the other day I questioned him about it. “Buddy, since you’re not really playing with your train right now, do you want to turn it off?” His response has stuck with me: “No, Daddy. I like to have it working even though I’m not watching it.”

In the same way, God remains at work even when we’re not paying attention. When we talk about God’s impact on our lives, we tend to do so in transactional terms—I prayed for help and the Lord helped me, I studied the Bible and felt Him speaking to my heart; I worshiped and was encouraged by the experience. Perhaps without intending to do so, we start to give the impression that God operates according to our spiritual remote control, working only when we compel Him to do so.

The truth, as Jesus reminded the Pharisees, is that God is always at work. He doesn’t sit back just because we do. Where we may grow tired, He never does; where we lose interest, His eye remains on His creation. God is both sovereign and sustaining; He is both deeply aware of what’s happening in our world and deeply involved.

So much of life can feel random and chaotic, without rhyme or reason. But however disordered the world can seem, we can trust that God is still in the business of restoring what is broken and redeeming what is lost. Take comfort in the knowledge that, even when you’re not paying attention, God is still working.