As it always was, it still is: God will work through every one of us
By Dean Collins
In my morning Scripture reading today, my read-through-the-Bible plan included both Nehemiah 1 and 1 Corinthians 1. As I read, I was struck by three things: the faithfulness of God, the time span of God’s grand restoration project, and the role of servant leaders in every generation. I don’t know about you, but I need regular reminders that my work is a part of the grand story of God and that everything doesn’t depend on me.
Different purposes, consistent promise keeper
The more you read the whole Bible and not just your favorite and familiar passages, the more you understand that God has consistently kept his promises and that his timeframe and ours appear to be different. Knowing that our time on earth is limited and more specifically our careers and time of kingdom service are constrained by health and age, we tend to want clear indicators that we have done our job, completed the task, and been successful. But God’s view and ours concerning success are very different. He is more concerned with our surrender and our faithfulness than he is with what we accomplish, which is hard for us achievement-oriented types to understand.
Considering that God started his redemption and restoration plan for his creation at the Fall of man and that it is still going on today, I suppose you would agree God’s timeframe is different than ours. We might also note that all of the heroes of the Bible, no matter how big their tasks appeared, played only a small part in God’s ongoing plan. And we also might note that God was faithful in his promises to every person in his grand story. He came through for Abraham, blessing him with a child at old age from whom he would bless all nations. He came through for Moses, delivering the Hebrew people from 400 years of bondage and leading them to the Promised Land. He came through for Joshua who took over for Moses, led the Hebrew people in many victories, and began the assignment of land for the 12 tribes.
We could go on about how God made good on his promises to various judges, prophets, priests, and kings. And now, as we consider Nehemiah, how God we remember that God was faithful to fulfill his promise to Jeremiah that the people of God would return to Jerusalem. We might note that God employs both what appears to be an odd strategy and unusual candidates in his leadership selection process.
From wine taster to wall builder
Nehemiah was neither a priest nor a prophet. He was a government worker who served as the wine taster for Persian King Artaxerxes. In God’s big redemption project, he doesn’t use just pastors, church staff, and Bible teachers. But note in the story of Nehemiah that God used someone that was simply observing the troubling situation and willing to pray about it. These may be our first two steps of understanding how God wants to use us as well.
Thirty-five or more years ago i heard a preacher pray, “Open my eyes, Lord, to see what you see.” That may not have been Nehemiah’s exact prayer, but I think it was close. As Nehemiah considered his peers and fellow citizens and the conditions of his homeland, he was grieved. Nehemiah’s prayer was answered as God revealed the brokenness of the city. Through a season of fasting and prayer, Nehemiah entered a time of confession and repentance as he prepared his heart to do whatever God directed him to do. In the case of Nehemiah, his prayers led to a career change and a relocation. Nehemiah went from wine taster to wall builder shortly after his amen.
Centuries later, still at work
Reading through the epistles of Paul, we see that centuries after Nehemiah, God is still working his redemption and restoration plan. While we know that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the central piece of God’s final plan of restoration, we see that God has not chosen to rush to the final chapter of his grand story. Some 25 years after the resurrection, we see the apostle Paul traveling by boat from city to city, preaching, teaching, and writing his letters so that the church might embrace her role in God’s plan. In each letter, we find Paul praying that God’s work would continue in and through every recipient of his letters.
Paul’s contribution and participation in God’s story become clear to us as we read, pray, and realize that each of us has a role to play in the story of redemption and renewal of all things. And just as in the case of Nehemiah and Paul, we too must pray, watch, and follow the Holy Spirit as he leads us to do our part in God’s story. And like the saints of old, we will probably not see the significance of our surrender and the fruit of our labor until we watch the full panoramic view from Heaven.
Reading Scripture, praying, and daily surrender lead us to joyful surrender of our lives in service to God. We can be confident that the God of Scripture is the God of creation and he will fulfill every promise to us just as he has in every generation.
Lord, as we read your Word, we realize you have called us to surrender daily and follow you. Increase our faith that we might gain strength and courage that your plans and your timing are much better than ours. Open our eyes to what you want us to see that is still broken, and lead us to work and serve the people and the places where you call us to serve. Thank you for allowing us to be used to extend your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Nehemiah 1:4-11; 2:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV
Photo by Marcus Ganahl on Unsplash
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