It’s not uncommon for me to sit at the barber shop or some other place where I wait as other people are talking, and to hear the customers talk about how bad things have gotten. It’s one thing when this discussion is about America, but it’s another thing when people are talking about things of faith.

Whether or not America is in decline is a political discussion saved for another time. Whether or not God is at work within this world is not open for debate for a Christian.

One of the great theological teachings of Christianity is that God is actively involved in this world. He didn’t just spin the world into motion and then stand back to see what would happen. He actually stepped into the world and plays an active role in what is taking place.

No matter our perspective, His activity has not ceased. (See: Do You Need a Sign to Believe in God?)

Sadly, many Christians struggle to differentiate between God’s Kingdom and America and they have allowed their perspective on America’s fall to impact their view on God’s activity (when it should be the other way around). They have concluded God is no longer at work in a good way around them.

The result of this belief is that everywhere they look, they see problems. They see confirmation of their belief.

If you believe God is no longer at work in this world, everything you see will confirm that belief.

However, God is at work in this world. Lives are changing. Relationships are being restored. For the first time, people are believing in God. For the first time in a long time, people are renewing a relationship with God. Addictions are being confronted. Old sorrows are being dealt with. Broken hearts are finding hope.

I see it every week. In some stories which I can tell and many more which I have to keep hidden, I see God working in the lives of people. That work is no less today than it was five decades or two centuries ago. The God who was at work, still is at work.

If you believe God is still at work in this world, what you see will confirm your belief.

God’s hand is rarely scene unless someone is looking. On occasion He acts in an undeniable way, but in most cases He works in a much more subversive manner. It takes eyes of faith to understand His presence. His work can easily be overlooked by those too busy or too pessimistic to know His presence.

Yet when we understand His nature, we begin to see His work. Small circumstances are understood as playing a part in the bigger story. We know He is always active so we begin to look for Him and we find Him.

It’s tragic that many Christians have fallen for the deception that God isn’t doing very much anymore. It prevents them from seeing His presence with them on a daily basis. It robs them of the opportunity to be used by God as He affects changes in the lives of others.

How do you see the world? Far too many see it through a political lens–either left or right. Many others see it through a pessimistic lens. But Jesus sees it through the lens of potential. The opportunities are great and He is at work inviting us to join Him in what He is doing.

(For more, watch the last 8 minutes of this sermon. Start at 32.30.)