God Is Working for You in Secret

Introduction

Patrice Martorano reminds us in this message of a simple truth we easily forget: God is working for you in secret, even when you don't see anything coming. Like a mom who cooks meals, does the laundry, and makes the beds without her children ever noticing, the Father is working behind the scenes of your life. Through the story of Saul going out to look for his father Kish's donkeys, and several other Bible stories, this sermon puts God's sovereignty and providence back at the center of your current season. The promise at the heart of this message: you won't accomplish great things by despising small things, you'll be connected to the extraordinary by being faithful in the ordinary.

Message Outline

1. The Sovereignty of God

• God is above all things: he opens doors, and he closes them too. When he closes a door, it's not to bother you, it's an act of grace, sparing you a path that would have hurt you.
• Understanding God's sovereignty produces rest. Your faith becomes the confidence that your life is in the hands of a Father who wants the best for you.
• God is all-knowing because he isn't bound by time: he is the creator of time, so he necessarily stands outside it. To him, your life is like a whole painting already laid out before his eyes.
• When you're running back and forth in your worries (marriage, studies, children, ministry), God says to you: "Be still, and know that I am God." In Hebrew, that word also means relax, let go, be quiet.

2. The Providence of God

• Sovereignty is what God desires to accomplish in your life. Providence is the concrete way he arranges the gears to bring you where he wants you to be.
• Chance is the name God takes when he travels incognito. That meeting on the plane, at the bakery, or by the soccer field isn't luck: it's him orchestrating it.
• Patrice tells the story of Momentum Paris's opening at the Théâtre de la Madeleine: over a hundred contacts to find a venue, until he remembered a certain Chris Campion he'd met after a sermon in Perpignan, who found them the perfect spot, 200 meters from the Élysée Palace.
• The book of Esther is the only book in the Bible where God's name is never mentioned, and yet, from the first verse to the last, we see him working to save his people. You may not name him in your current chapter, but he's present in it.

3. The Story of Saul: The Ordinary Connects You to the Extraordinary

• Saul's résumé in 1 Samuel 9 is impressive: an outstanding man, more handsome than any other Israelite, standing a head taller than all of them. If he'd lived in 2024, he'd have had a million followers.
• Yet it isn't his résumé that connects him to his destiny. It's an ordinary errand: his father Kish loses his donkeys, asks him to go find them, and Saul obeys.
• For three days he searches and finds nothing. Just as he's ready to give up, his servant suggests going to consult Samuel. Saul has no idea that twenty-four hours earlier, God had told Samuel: "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people."
• What leads him to his royal anointing isn't his intelligence, his looks, or his stature. It's simply that he obeyed his father in a task with no glory attached.

4. Other Bible Stories: Faithfulness in the Present

• David had already been anointed by Samuel in front of his brothers and father, but he went back to the fields. It's while delivering cheese to his brothers at the front line that he meets Goliath and steps into his destiny.
• Rebekah waters Abraham's servant's camels, a job that takes hours, which no sensible person would take on for a stranger. It's this ordinary act that connects her to her destiny: becoming Isaac's wife and the mother of Jacob, who would become Israel.
• Joseph, in prison, simply does what he can. He interprets the dreams of two fellow prisoners. Later, it's that memory that gets him out of the dungeon to become prime minister of Egypt.
• The apostles didn't do anything extraordinary to be called. Peter was fishing, others were tax collectors. Jesus came and found them in the middle of their trade.
• You don't build the future out of the future. You build it out of the present, by doing what God asks of you today, even if it looks like looking for donkeys, delivering cheese, or watering camels.

Key Takeaways

• God hasn't abandoned you, even when you can't see him and can't feel him. He's at work in secret for you.
• He already knows the end of your life's story because he stands outside the time he created.
• There's no such thing as chance with God: the people you cross paths with at just the right moment are pieces he has put in place.
• What connects you to your destiny isn't the extraordinary things you dream of accomplishing, but faithfulness in the ordinary tasks God entrusts to you today.
• Even when you don't see his hand, trust his heart. He's a Father who loves you with an everlasting love and is preparing the very best for you.

Personal Application

1. What is the "ordinary" task God is asking you to do right now that you look down on or neglect?
2. Is there a door God has closed in your life that you haven't yet thanked him for closing?
3. Are you so focused on the far-off future that you forget to fully live in the present where God has placed you?
4. To whom might God have whispered your name (a boss, a pastor, a future spouse) without you ever knowing?
5. Are you ready to tell God: "Even if I don't see your hand, I trust your heart"?

Scriptures Cited

• 1 Samuel 9:1-3 · Saul's résumé and the lost donkeys
• 1 Samuel 9:15-17 · God warns Samuel twenty-four hours in advance
• Psalm 46:10 · Be still, and know that I am God
• Isaiah 55:9 · My thoughts are higher than your thoughts
• Jeremiah 29:11 · I know the plans I have for you
• Ephesians 2:10 · We are his workmanship (his poem)

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I know God is really at work in my life when I don't see anything happening?

Patrice Martorano points to the book of Esther: it's the only book in the Bible where God's name is never mentioned, and yet he's at work from the first verse to the last to save his people. Not seeing God's hand doesn't mean he's absent. He's working in secret while you're out looking for donkeys, like a parent who puts in a double shift without their children ever noticing. Trust his heart even when his hand stays invisible.

What should I actually do when I don't feel God's presence?

Stay faithful in the ordinary. That's the central message of this sermon: you won't connect to your destiny by waiting for a big sign or an extraordinary feeling. Saul was looking for donkeys, David was delivering cheese, Rebekah was watering camels, Joseph was doing what he could in prison. Keep doing what God has entrusted to you today. Your next step is built out of these very things.

How do I tell a door God closed apart from a simple failure?

Patrice reminds us that God's sovereignty includes closing certain doors as an act of grace, to spare you a path that would have hurt you. Instead of only thanking God for the open doors, take time to thank him also for the ones he has closed. If you live this season resting, trusting that your life is held in his hands, you'll recognize that a door God closes is also an answer, not a rejection.