Do the work, but stay in your lane.
The truth is, we have a Bible full of God doing things His way, often at the confusion of His people. That’s not to say that God initiates the confusion; rather, our minute human understanding simply cannot comprehend the perfection of God’s ways.
Take Peter in Mark 8.
31 He [Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
We have to be cautious that our obedience to the Lord doesn’t stop with our understanding of His ways.
Now before we disparage Peter, let me just say…he is my favorite. I love Peter’s audacity. I think it’s the very trait that made him so impactful in the book of Acts. But his audacity had to first come under submission. And rebuking the Son of God will definitely highlight a need for submission.
Peter was doing the best he could with the knowledge he had. Of course he had “merely human concerns” in his mind – Peter was human! He had no way to fathom what was really going on here apart from God revealing it. But Peter learned something that we still struggle to apply in our lives today: God doesn’t operate on our understanding.
So what are we to do? If God’s ways are nothing like our ways, then what exactly do we bring to the table here? Our ways, according to Isaiah 55, are not high enough. So what’s the point of us trying to do anything for the Lord?
If God’s ways are nothing like our ways, then what exactly do we bring to the table here?
Well, I think God has something to say about that. See, before us, there was David. David was a man after God’s heart, who eventually became a king after God’s heart. And he longed to give the Lord a home. He wanted to build the temple for the Lord’s presence, but God told him no. It wouldn’t be David who built the temple. Instead it would be his son Solomon.
As David’s life is coming to an end, he begins cautiously and meticulously relaying all of the instructions for the construction of the temple to Solomon. He takes great pains to do this in detail. Sometimes, God gives the instructions to one person, but the job of execution to another. And we have to rely on the Great Communicator to help us avoid a supernatural version of the telephone game.
Sometimes, God gives the instructions to one person, but the job of execution to another.
At the end of 1 Chronicles 28, David abandons the details and begins to answer the questions Solomon had yet to ask (but was likely thinking). He assures Solomon that Levites are already assigned, skilled workers will volunteer their time and effort, and the entire kingdom is at his disposal.
But it’s what he says about the Lord that got me:
20 Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.
Rest assured, He will not fail.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!