What is God up to?

Most of us have learned the hard way that thinking something is finished and it actually being finished are two very different things. You hit “submit” on an online form and immediately get a message that says, “You’re not done yet.” You assemble something from the hardware store, step back feeling proud—then notice two extra screws on the floor. You tell yourself you’re finally done with Christmas shopping, and five minutes later your phone buzzes with a reminder of one more person you forgot. Life has a funny way of reminding us that what we call “finished” is often just a pause before the next step.

We believe God worked back then. We believe God did something once. But when life gets complicated, confusing, or uncomfortable, we quietly wonder: Is God still doing anything now? That’s not a new question. It’s actually the central question of Advent.

“Life has a way of teaching us that what we call finished is often just a pause before the next step.” “And maybe the same is true with God.” “God is still at work—even now.”

The Advent Question

After two thousand years, the story of Jesus’ birth has become so familiar that it risks feeling ordinary. The star. The shepherds. The stable. The wise men. A child can tell the outline of the Christmas story. But for the people living it, nothing about it felt familiar or safe. Every part of it was unsettling. Unexpected. Uncomfortable. And at every turn, they must have been asking the same question: “What is God up to?”

That’s an Advent question. A waiting question. A hope-filled question. It’s the question you ask when you know God isn’t finished—but you can’t yet see what He’s doing. That question shows up in small ways, too. Let’s be honest—how many of us have ever tried to peek at a Christmas present early?

Why? Because we couldn’t stand not knowing what someone was up to. “What did they buy?” “When are they giving it?” “What’s coming next?” That curiosity isn’t impatience—it’s expectation. And Advent invites us to bring that same expectation to God.

Here it is—clear, simple, and repeatable: Jesus never stops working in your life. That’s not just good theology. That’s good news.

In John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been disabled for 38 years. And He does it on the Sabbath. The religious leaders are furious—not because a man has been restored, but because the healing happened outside their rules, their timing, and their expectations. And Jesus responds with a sentence that shakes everything: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17) That one sentence reframes everything. “Because if Jesus is working… then God is working.” “God is still at work—even now.”

1. God Never Stopped Working

The leaders believed God rested on the seventh day—and therefore stopped working. Jesus says, No. God rested from creation, but He never rested from redemption. God didn’t stop sustaining life. God didn’t stop healing. God didn’t stop restoring broken people. And here’s the gentle conviction for us: Sometimes we assume God is finished simply because we are tired of waiting.

But Advent reminds us: Waiting does not mean God is inactive. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He worked when people thought God should be resting. And then He says something even more unsettling: “I only do what I see the Father doing.” In other words: If Jesus is working, God is working. That means God’s activity isn’t confined to religious spaces. Not just the Temple. Not just the synagogue.

Not just the places we expect.“ God didn’t heal him in the Temple. God healed him beside a pool—where broken people gathered because they had nowhere else to go.” God was working beside a pool. Among the broken. In the overlooked spaces. And sometimes that challenges us—because we like God predictable, contained, and manageable. But Advent tells us God doesn’t stay boxed in. The leaders understood exactly what Jesus was claiming.

By calling God His Father, Jesus was saying something radical: God looks like Me. That is the heart of Christianity. “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son… has made Him known.” (John 1:18) If you want to know how God works— Look at Jesus. How He loves. How He heals. How He moves toward the hurting. How He never gives up on people others have written off. That is what God is like.

“So stop assuming God is finished.” “Finished with your faith. Finished with your healing. Finished with your calling. Finished with you.” “God is still at work—even now.”

So here is the Advent invitation:

Stop assuming God is finished. Finished with your faith. Finished with your healing. Finished with your calling. Finished with this church. Finished with you. Jesus never stops working. Not loudly always. Not quickly always. But faithfully. The people in the Christmas story didn’t understand what God was doing—but they trusted that He was doing something. Advent invites us to do the same. You may not know what God is up to. But you can trust that He is up to something. Because the same God who came in a manger is still at work today.