What I See the Father Doing
Jesus said “I always do what I see the Father doing”. So, what does that mean? Well, it could be that he had some special “sight” or means of seeing God’s will. If that is the case, saying it to his followers, who obviously don’t have that sight, would be more of a boast than information that would be of any use. I just can’t see him doing that. He did say a lot of things that seem impossible to us…moving mountains for example. He also did say we could do WAY more, if we just had faith.
I have said for years that faith is based on knowledge. It is a relational thing, not blind belief. Blind belief is stupid. Faith is founded in knowing what a person is like, not based on imagination or assumption. So, to grow in faith, we must get to know the person our faith is to be based on. Part of this is to ask the harder questions, like, “what the heck does he mean here!?”
Breaking down what he said, simply, Jesus said that he follows the Fathers lead. How does he know what the Fathers lead is? Well, let’s look at who and what the Father is. The Father, from a biblical perspective is God, the great I AM. A being that is outside of time and space. A being of such power and position that we, being stuck in time (in our physical, spiritual and even mental states), cannot possibly comprehend. We can grasp it in little bits, but to really understand the Father is impossible. But I have a means to understand it just a wee bit.
Consider the Star Wars universe. I know I have done this on Facebook several times, but most really have a hard time with it. So I keep repeating it. I do understand why, but you’re not going like the reason. So, in the Star Wars universe, who is the most powerful being? Yoda? No. Obi Wan? No. Darth Vader?? Nope. George Lucas. Yes, seems obvious now doesn’t it? Well consider George Lucas as the creator/god of his universe. Think of the power. Think of what he can do. Yes, you get it. He can do ANYTHING he wants.
Also, if you ever want to go down the road of biblical predestination/choice and how both can work at the same time, this is a means to grasp it…somewhat. How is that you say? Look at Anakin Skywalker, who through a series of rather stupid decisions based on his pride, becomes Darth Vader, the evil antagonist who gets redemption in the end. Anakin made a choice to become Darth Vader didn’t he? Yes, within the confines of the Star Wars universe, he did. So from Anakin’s perspective, he has free will. However, if you view it from outside the time and space of the Star Wars Universe, George is the one who chose Anakin’s fate. Yes, he did. Now I know this is hard to swallow…real hard. Why? Here is the part you are not going to like.
Consider also, the beginning of all the negative stuff in this universe. You know, back in the Garden of Eden. Why did Adam and Eve eat from the tree? The reason they threw it all away was to become like God. What is God like? Well, he is in control. Do you see it? The greatest problem with the “sin nature”, as the bible puts it, is we want to be in charge. This is clearly an illusion, but one most men will hold onto with a violence. We are not in charge. Shoot, we can’t even control what we think most of the time. That we think we will control anything else is beyond me. Yet, here we are, pretending we are godlike beings but are really more like hamsters running nowhere in our little wheels.
Ouch, that doesn’t sound very appealing. Nope, it sure doesn’t, well unless you see the Father for who and what he is. He is our George Lucas. He is our Author, our creator, our writer of everything we see, think and know. Yes, he is in control of everything, even the fact that I wrote this and you are reading it. Still don’t think so? Well consider the devil. Do you really think that God, as the bible describes him, was surprised when the devil rebelled? No, that would not be possible for a being that is ALL knowing. Do you think then, that God made a mistake? No, because then he wouldn’t be perfect, would he? “So, you are saying, he made the devil knowing full well what he would do.” “If that is the case, then there was no mistake and everything is happening for a planned reason.” YES! So, here is where faith really comes it…is it a GOOD reason? YES! And YES! How do I know that? Well, experience really.
Now, currently at the moment, I don’t like what he is doing. Laid off for the 8th time. The world and the church belittling my fragile ego. Not my happy place. But I do trust him. He does know what he is doing. Things could easily get even harder. However, I know, since it was never my choice (that free will illusion) to come to him in the first place, that HE will finish the work he started. Yup, it says that in the book too.
So, how does this all equate to “doing what we see the Father doing?” Let’s look at Jesus, who knew completely that the Father was in control. He walks along a road, that the Father put there, sees a man begging for bread, who the Father made along with his life circumstances - he wrote it all just like any author. Jesus sees the man and all of a sudden feels compassion for him. The man’s legs don’t work. Jesus has no idea why, yet he feels for the man. Seeing the situation that has been laid out in front of him, and having the means to help, he heals the man. He did what he saw the Father doing.
Yes, this is simplistic. But since we are like hamsters, this is pretty much how we are going to understand even a tiny bit of the impossible. Of course, there is the Holy Spirit to guide here and there, but generally, for any one of us to do the things Jesus did, we have to start by trusting the Father in the circumstances.
There are benefits to understanding this. You can know at any point in your life if you are IN the will of God. Really? How? Simply put, if you ask for God’s will before you make any choice, you are asking the Author to line you up with his best. If he does not send you an Angel, prophet or part the heavens and speak to you directly, you must make the choice based on the information that he has given you. You choose... from your perspective.
Ah, but a wee bit down the road, you can see that you made a bad choice. The other road is much better than the road you chose and there is no way to fix it now. Most would say at this point, that they “missed” the will of God. That is not possible. WHAT?! Yes, for if God is God and HE is responsible for you, not you, then when you gave HIM the choice for your path, HE took it. Well, he really had it already, but you now acknowledge it is his. Think about it. If HE wanted you to go the other way, there is nothing you or anyone else could do to stop it. You would have gone the other way. You are exactly where God wants you now. Yes I am…I still don’t like it much. But neither did Jesus when he was on the cross. Neither did David when he was in a cave, neither did Joseph when he was in prison. I think I can trust God in my present mess. You see, that is our only real choice. His will WILL be done. But, will I trust him in it and walk it through or will I rebel and break the rules? Will I lie or cheat to attempt to change the circumstances? Faith requires us to trust him, even when we don’t like what he is doing. Does it not? Doing the right thing, even when it hurts, shows our faith…big time. Our faith is really the only thing that pleases God. That is after all what he is coming back for.
I know, this poses a bunch of hard questions. But it is true based on how the scriptures describe the Father. Do you really think God in HIS universe would be any less powerful than George Lucas is in his? Not hardly. In fact, God is VASTLY more powerful, so much so that we cannot grasp this stuff fully and probably never will. Yes, we do have choice, and no we do not. It is a perspective yes, but also something much more. We can only glimpse it just enough to let our faith take us the rest of the way.
To do the Fathers will… Make Him God, trust him in the circumstances and move in the direction he has laid out for you. Then, have no fear of mistakes, because even those are part of his plan and HE doesn't make mistakes.