“My Father still goes on working, and I am at work, too.” (John 5:17)
Amidst the many challenges and difficulties of life, it is easy to wonder where God is in all this. When we encounter difficult people who seem to constantly get on our nerves, when we have been praying for situations in our lives which doesn’t seem to be resolved even after much perseverance or when we constantly have to face our own brokenness and sinfulness as we are often do when we go deep within ourselves during this holy season of Lent, it is easy to wonder if there is any hope in all this ever being put in order.
Jesus’ declaration that the Father goes on working and so does he in John 5:17 is a strong statement that should give all who are growing weary and burdened in life much hope because God’s work is still in progress. God is the one who has the final say in our lives and it is not over until He says so. As difficult as it may be for us to truly grasp the fact that God is at work in our lives amidst the darkness and gloom, we have to trust that we can hold Him by His Word and believe that He is truly at work in our ordinary lives.
The most silent moment in the life of Jesus was when he hung lifeless on the cross of Calvary. His last words were, “It is accomplished”. Indeed, his salvific work is accomplished upon the cross of Calvary and we will revel in this victory in the days to come when Christian all over will celebrate the passion and death of our Lord on Good Friday. However, the Church also reminds us that even at his death, our Lord descended to the dead where he preached the Good News to all who were awaiting the Good News of salvation. The Father goes on working even whilst his Son slept in the silence of the tomb because He vindicated him on that Easter morning when he rose glorious from the dead. Indeed, we can be sure that even the pain and gloom of Holy Week, there was not a moment when God was not at work. The ancients believed that if God were to stop “working” even for a second, the whole world would crumble upon itself because it is God who continues to sustain the world and hold it in existence.
Thus, as we approach Holy Week, we can take heart that God is certainly at work in our lives even amidst the mundane routines that may overtake Holy Week. God is at work and maybe, if we stopped for a moment and realise the gravity of this fact, we would then realise that we are indeed work-in progress and thus, there is always hope. We are not the only work-in-progress but so are our spouses, our children, our parents, our in-laws, our colleagues, our neighbours and most importantly, so are our enemies. God is at work in every person’s lives and what hope this must stir up in all of us.
Let us take heart in the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians, “Keep on working, with fear and trembling, to complete your salvation, for God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.” (Phil 12b -13)
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