{"id":11858,"date":"2016-06-24T11:22:28","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T15:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11858"},"modified":"2016-08-08T10:59:39","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T14:59:39","slug":"god-work-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11858","title":{"rendered":"God Work Ahead!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Our church is currently surrounded by construction.\u00a0 New handicapped accessible crossings.\u00a0 Road repairs.\u00a0 Road closures.\u00a0 Detours&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">There are highway department signs all over the place.\u00a0 Not to be left out, our church signboard took on the following message on 6\/24\/16&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<table class=\" aligncenter\" style=\"width: 526.083px; height: 214px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 194.917px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 151px; height: 194.917px;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">GOD<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">WORK<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">AHEAD<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 275.083px; height: 194.917px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11857 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Signboard-2016-06-24-God-Work-Ahead-_IMG_3540-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Signboard 2016-06-24 God Work Ahead _IMG_3540\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Signboard-2016-06-24-God-Work-Ahead-_IMG_3540-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Signboard-2016-06-24-God-Work-Ahead-_IMG_3540.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Road workers wearing orange vests are scattered throughout our town working to make our roads and sidewalks safer.\u00a0 Driving through town, it&#8217;s impossible to avoid stretches of lane closures where <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11866\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Road-Work-_IMG_3543-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"RoadSign Road Work _IMG_3543\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Road-Work-_IMG_3543-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Road-Work-_IMG_3543.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>police officers (holding a &#8220;Stop&#8221; \/ &#8220;Slow&#8221; sign) direct motorists to share the single open lane.<\/p>\n<p>Along Lambs Road, headed toward our church, there&#8217;s a countdown of triangular signs warning us that things are about to become &#8220;un-normal&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t<div class='et-simple-slider et_sliderfx_slide et_sliderauto_true et_sliderauto_speed_4000 et_slidertype_simple'>\n\t\t\t<div class='et-simple-slides'>\n\t\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content-wrapper'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tROAD WORK 1000 FT&#8230;\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tROAD WORK 500 FT&#8230;\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tROAD WORK 100 FT&#8230;\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tROAD WORK 50 FT&#8230;\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\t<strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">STOP!<\/span><\/strong>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> <!-- .et-simple-slider -->\n\t\t\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Life At Work&#8230;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We know what these construction workers are doing.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve been through the drill before.\u00a0 And <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11867\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Closed-_IMG_3546-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"RoadSign Closed _IMG_3546\" width=\"197\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Closed-_IMG_3546-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/RoadSign-Closed-_IMG_3546.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/>the potholes have bumped and jostled us enough times to make us glad that the road is being fixed.\u00a0 We can put up with all of the temporary orange signs because we know that things will get better.\u00a0 Eventually, the detours will go away and the road will be smoother than it used to be (for a while anyway&#8230;).<\/p>\n<p>Unlike these orange road signs, life isn&#8217;t good at giving us warnings.\u00a0 Problems and hardships seem to pop out of nowhere.\u00a0 We don&#8217;t often see signs like&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;PHONE CALL AHEAD&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;DEATH OF BEST FRIEND AHEAD&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;CANCER AHEAD&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;UNEXPECTED BILL AHEAD&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">God Work<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Through the difficulties, and through the &#8220;normal times,&#8221; God is always at work in our lives.\u00a0 But He doesn&#8217;t usually wear a bright orange vest.\u00a0 He doesn&#8217;t grab our attention like a noisy <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11494\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Construction-trucks-2016-05-16-2-_400x300-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Construction trucks 2016-05-16 -2 _400x300\" width=\"199\" height=\"149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Construction-trucks-2016-05-16-2-_400x300-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Construction-trucks-2016-05-16-2-_400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/>jackhammer.\u00a0 He doesn&#8217;t hit our noses with the smell of hot tar.<\/p>\n<p>To see God&#8217;s work in our lives, our human senses of sight, sound, touch and smell aren&#8217;t enough.\u00a0 To taste God&#8217;s presence we need to put away human reason and put on the glasses of faith.\u00a0 The work of God comes disguised as &#8220;Coincidences&#8221; or subtle deeds that we don&#8217;t even notice.\u00a0 The voice of God is usually more like a quiet whisper than an unmistakable stroke of lightning.<\/p>\n<p>If we ignore the subtle voices and hang around for an earthquake, we won&#8217;t get anywhere&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class='et-box et-shadow'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The Lord said, &#8220;Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.\u00a0 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.\u00a0 Then a voice said to him, &#8220;What are you doing here, Elijah?&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">1 Kings 19:11-13, NIV<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">God Work: For Us<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When you&#8217;re going through a rough stretch of life, you may not notice it, but God is working in the details behind the scenes to lead you to the other side of the problem.\u00a0 He wants you to grow stronger in your faith and to become closer to Him.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-8708\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Butterfly-_Facebook_300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Butterfly _Facebook_300x300\" width=\"198\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Butterfly-_Facebook_300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Butterfly-_Facebook_300x300-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Butterfly-_Facebook_300x300-178x178.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Butterfly-_Facebook_300x300-184x184.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And so when the road gets bumpy, look for God&#8217;s work in things like&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li>Unexpected phone calls from a friend that comes at a particular bumpy moment<\/li>\n<li>Gifts that show up when you least expect it<\/li>\n<li>Words of comfort that speak to your deepest thoughts<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Coincidences&#8221; in nature: butterflies, sunsets, rainbows<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">God Work: Through Us<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>God&#8217;s work usually comes through God&#8217;s people.\u00a0 Sometimes we just get a &#8220;hunch&#8221; or a strong thought that we should pick up the phone and ask someone how they&#8217;re doing.\u00a0 We get an urge that we should take someone out for lunch, or send a card or buy a gift.<\/p>\n<p>God&#8217;s Work happens when Spirit-Filled people hear that &#8220;whisper&#8221; and act on faith to obey.\u00a0 You may not understand why you&#8217;re doing something.\u00a0 You may not think that it will make any difference.\u00a0 You may be tempted to rationalize it all away, but could it be that this is how God is calling you?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel!\u00a0 He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">2 Cororinthians 1:3-5<br \/>\n(<span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\">from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language \u00a9 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.<\/span>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sometime when you least expect it, there&#8217;s GOD WORK AHEAD!\u00a0 Keep your eyes open or you&#8217;ll drive right through it without even noticing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;\">+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This button will take you to more Signboard messages:\u00a0\u00a0 <a href='https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?cat=51' class='icon-button paper-icon' target=\"_blank\">Signboard<span class='et-icon'><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our church is currently surrounded by construction.  New handicapped accessible crossings.  Road repairs.  Road closures.  Detours&#8230;<br \/>\nGod is always at work in our lives, but He doesn&#8217;t usually wear a bright orange vest or grab our attention like a noisy jackhammer.<br \/>\nHow can you see Him?  How can you join Him???<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[81,144],"class_list":["post-11858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-signboard","tag-giveserve","tag-godspresence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11858"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11876,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858\/revisions\/11876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}