If you've ever listened to me speak or teach you've probably heard me say, 

"God is always present and at work." 

It's a phrase that I picked up from a pastor friend of mine. He picked it up from Jesus. In John 5, Jesus says, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working" (v17). 

The reason I love my friend's paraphrase is that it's easy to believe that God is distant and detached from your life. It's easy to think that He's too busy or He doesn't care when in reality, He genuinely cares and actually has infinite time for you. If you've turned over the reigns of your life to Jesus, His Spirit resides with you, and therefore, He's always present. 

This means that discipleship opportunities abound in every area of your life. When you are engaged in relationship with your kids, God is always present and at work. When you are grinding out your nine to five workday, God is always present and at work. When you are connecting with friends at the gym or coffee shop, God is always present and at work. When you are working through severe tragedy and loss, God is always present and at work. When you are experiencing great joy and victory, God is always present and at work. 

Sometimes we make discipleship more complicated than it needs to be. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking discipleship is learning information about God, the Bible, the ministry of Jesus, or a systematic theology. Those things will come the longer you follow Jesus, but they aren't the crux of discipleship. 

In John 5, Jesus says to the Pharisees, 

"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (v39-40). 

Discipleship isn't about studying a specific curriculum or amassing more spiritual knowledge. It's living in a close relationship with Jesus in the everyday places of life. 

The simplicity of discipleship is to trust that Jesus is always present and continually working to engage with you. All He's asking you to do is pay attention and respond. 

Perhaps we could say that discipleship is as simple as paying attention and responding. 

Now it's important to grasp that while I might be suggesting that discipleship is simply to engage in an authentic relationship with Jesus, it doesn't mean it's easy.

To cultivate an ongoing awareness of God's activity in your life takes intention and discipline. To be able to determine what is actually from God and what isn't takes wisdom and discernment. To follow through with the things that you believe God is putting in front of you takes courage and confidence. This raises the question, how do you grow in these qualities? 

Here are four simple things that you can do. 

1. Create Space

We live in such a noisy-constantly-connected-world that we need to be able to create space in our lives to cultivate awareness of God's presence. One way I'm currently doing this is by leaving my phone at home when I walk my kids to and from school. I found I was always on my phone during those walks, and I wanted to be open to both God and my kids when I'm tempted to be distracted. I leave it home to create mental, emotional, and spiritual space in my life. 

2. Ask Questions

Relationships deepen and grow when we engage in them with curiosity. It should be no different with God. We need to wonder about who God is and what He's up to when we are reading the Bible, praying, or having coffee with a friend. As we grow curious, we should ask more questions. Just today, when I was walking home from dropping my kids at school, I had a random memory from college pop into my head. It brought with it some surprising emotion. Instead of merely dismissing it and moving on, I asked God, "Is there anything you want me to know about this?" I also wrote down the experience in my prayer journal to see if anything else with that memory would come to mind. 

3. Live in Community

If we are discerning things from the Lord that aren't directives in Scripture, it's essential to test them with other people. Recently, I had a friend who was invited into a great opportunity but wasn't sure if God was leading him to say yes. He took a week to pray and discern how he should respond. During that time, he asked five trusted friends and mentors about whether or not God might be directing him to this opportunity. Without those relationships, he may not have gained the clarity that he needed. He ultimately turned down the invite. 

4. Follow Through

When you believe that God is leading you in a specific direction, the faithful response is obedience. The more we follow where we believe that God is leading, our ability to discern correctly increases. Now you might be wondering, "But what if I get it wrong?" My same friend, as mentioned above, also says, "Misguided obedience is better than no obedience." Meaning, Jesus would rather have you sincerely believe you are following Him and get it wrong than not move forward at all. He can work with a "failed" attempt assuming it's coming from a pure heart and sincere motives, genuinely trying to follow Him. 

We will do well not to overcomplicate discipleship. God is always present and at work in our lives. My hope is that we would grow in our awareness of His work and be eager to participate with Him. When we do, I’m confident that we will grow to become more like Christ.