“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” So goes one of John Piper’s most famous quotes. But, if we’re honest, does it really always feel like that? In my life, it most certainly doesn’t feel like that all the time. I go through seasons when I am overwhelmingly aware of God’s activity in my life. But there are also times when God seems distant and His working in my life is far from my mind.

However, God is always working in the lives of Christians.

In fact, God is working in your life right now, whether you know it or not.

"How does he know that?" You might ask. "He doesn't know me, or what I’m going through, or the silence I get when I seek the Lord in prayer."

You’re right. I don’t know any of that. But I do know God’s Word and what it says in Philippians 2:13.

Philippians 2:13 [ESV] “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

I want to take just a moment or two today to draw out a few applications from this wonderful little tidbit of Scripture. But before I go any further, I must thank Pastor Steve Butler of Baptist Mid-Missions, who brought this snippet of truth to light in his chapel message at my college on Monday.

First, to orient ourselves to the context of the passage a little bit, this section comes on the heels of one of the most theologically rich sections in all the Bible – the so-called kenosis passage of Philippians 2:1-11. In that great snapshot of the deity of Christ, Paul reminds us that Jesus “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” but instead “emptied himself by taking the form of a servant” and was “born in the likeness of men.” Not only that, but he “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

As a result of that, God has “highly exalted” him and “bestowed on him a name that is above every name.”

Then look at the verse that comes right before the one we will be examining in depth today: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” [Phil. 2:12 ESV]

The word therefore in verse 12 takes our minds back to the spectacular claims Paul makes about Jesus in verses 1-11. So our verse today (verse 13) is rooted in the deity of Christ and the life he lived for us, including his substitutionary death on the cross

Keep that thought tucked away in the back of your mind as we turn now to examine verse 13 in a little more light. Let’s read it again before beginning:

Philippians 2:13 [ESV] “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

I want to focus on two things from this passage.

First, notice the subject here. God (Greek: theos) is operating as the subject of this sentence. Therefore it is God (not us) who is doing the action. “God is the agent,” says Meyer (as cited in Rienecker and Rogers).

Second, the Greek word underlying the English word works here – energōn – is a present active participle. What that means is this word carries with it the idea of continuous action. This isn’t saying, “For it is God who worked in you this one time in the past but isn’t working in you anymore.” No, this verse is saying something completely different.

It is saying, “For it is God who is right now at this very moment continually working in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Wow! Did you catch that? God is right now working in you in some way, shape, or form! Even if, like Piper said, you are unaware of most of the ways he is working. So wherever you are in your walk – whether you are a baby believer new to the faith, a seasoned saint who is persevering in the faith, or a wearied follower of Christ struggling to hold on to your last snippet of faith – God is right now working within you through his Spirit to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Relish that thought, Christian. Savor it. Meditate upon it and marvel at the fact that our great God, the God who is far above us and holier than we could ever fully understand, has taken up residence inside you and has devoted himself to continually work in you to do his will and to finally, “bring it [his good work in you] to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” [Phil. 1:6 ESV]

How does understanding that God is continually working within you affect you? How does this change the way we go about our daily lives? Does it make much of a difference that God’s work within us is never-ceasing? Let me know what you think in the comments or Facebook and Twitter! And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button below to receive these posts in your email every Thursday evening!

*Sources:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/every-moment-in-2013-god-will-be-doing-10-000-things-in-your-life

Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament by Rienecker and Rogers