Do you recognize the Lord at work in your life?

Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. All the earth will worship You, and will sing praises to You; …Come and see the works of God, who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; They passed through the river on foot; There let us rejoice in Him! He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad, who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip. For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. … Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; But certainly, God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me. Psalms 66:1-20

The Lord’s handiwork is evident throughout history. At times, it is dramatic and obvious—like parting the Red Sea—but other times, it can be easy to overlook. Our lack of perception, however, never impedes His activities. He keeps working whether we’re aware of it or not, and blessings await those who develop the spiritual discernment to see what He is doing.

Preconceived ideas about how God works can hinder our perception. For instance, when He provides something, we’ve requested, it’s easy to recognize His active intervention on our behalf. If, however, He doesn’t give what we had hoped we then might conclude He’s not doing anything. But in today’s passage, the psalmist recognizes that God works in various ways—sometimes via a great deliverance (vv. 5-6) and sometimes through painful situations (vv. 10-12). Since we know the Lord always acts in accordance with His Word, it’s important to read Scripture regularly so we’ll learn to recognize His activity in our life.

When our eyes are focused on the Lord, we’ll be open to a new perspective, and our faith will grow as we begin to discern how He’s working. Then the joy of seeing His involvement in big and small ways will motivate us to praise and thank Him, even in the hard times (Psalm 34:1).