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Working for the Lord
Simple, honorable deeds tend to be largely unrecognized in this life, but these actions matter to God. Sometimes we forget this, and we feel insignificant. We feel like we are not making a difference. I want to look at some moments of greatness in the lives of everyday people who stayed everyday people. They impacted history by doing LITTLE things that made a BIG difference…things that got them mentioned in the Bible. People that were small in mans’ eyes but not in God’s eyes. People who were not “typical” heroes of faith.
Let’s start by establishing that being mentioned in the Bible is not an easy feat! The Bible, the WORD of GOD, is a record of all history and all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The odds of someone being mentioned in the scripture are exceptionally small. Not even every act of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is recorded (John 20:30-31). There are around 2,600 people mentioned in the Bible, and each one is mentioned intentionally. No one is mentioned in scripture by accident. Conservative estimates hold that around 1,000,000,000 people lived during the time covered by the Bible. That’s around 0.0003% of people being mentioned. In other words, it is significant to get mentioned in the Bible.
In Genesis 24, Abraham sent his eldest servant on a mission. The servant promised to accomplish his master’s bidding, to do his job. He prayed as he did his job, showing he was serving God, like we read in Col 3:22-24. It may not seem like a big deal to do your job with reverence – but remember – it’s TOUGH to get into the Bible and here we have a man whose contributes to the will of God by doing his job with reverence. Doing your job with reverence is important to God.
Shiprah and Puah are mentioned in a few verses at the beginning of Exodus. I am struck by the courageous lives of these women, forever a part of their nation's history. They took a stand to not do wrong under extreme pressure. Their part in the plan of God was simply refusing to do wrong. As the apostles said in Acts 5:29, "we must obey God rather than men!" Standing for your faith is important to God.
The Shunammite Woman of 2 Kings was a wealthy and well-respected person. But it was her hospitality that God noticed. It’s tough to get into the Bible, but this woman is mentioned twice because she opened her home to a man of God. Maybe what God has given you is the ability to host others.
The four friends of the paralyzed man in Mark 2 were determined to do whatever it took to get their friend to Jesus. They didn’t allow anything to get in their way. When there was not a way, they made a way. They got their friend in front of Jesus so he could get God’s blessing. Maybe your bit of amazing faith is getting others to services.
Consider the unnamed Israelite girl in 2 Kings 5. She had been captured and made a slave in Naaman's house. He was an ENEMY and yet she had compassion towards him. She couldn’t solve Naaman’s problem, but she knew who could – God. She wanted him to go to Elisha and be healed. It may not be within your power to fix a problem, but you may be able to lead people to someone who can help.
Have you ever met the type of person who seems to just be able to put everything in God’s hands? It’s impressive when you see it. The Centurion of Luke 7 did what he could, did what he should, and then left it to God. His simple, profound faith impressed even Jesus. Luke 7:9, “When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, ‘I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!’” Maybe your impact will be helping others see what it means to truly have faith in God through simple, but profound, trust in Him.
Do what you can, where you can. Small actions can help set in motion something much bigger. This “John the Baptist attitude” of preparing the way (Luke 3) can set the stage for others to do bigger work. It may be that we will never know the difference our actions make. Consider those who held the ropes for Paul (Acts 9:23-24) when the Jews planned to kill him. I doubt they could comprehend the impact Paul would make in his preaching career, they just saw someone that needed help and helped. Maybe you have the chance to lend a hand, to help in a small way….home repairs or mowing, helping someone move, making a meal for the sick, or just holding a rope….LITTLE things can make BIG differences.
You see, the things we do ARE significant. Matt 25:45 – “As much as you did it to one of these little ones, you did it to me.” What you can do may not be much in the eyes of man, but it may be great in the eyes of God.
Praise be to God, He has blessed us with the ability to be:
• Faith-demonstrating, diligent workers
• People with confidence in our Lord
• Men and women with compassion
• Spouses and parents building households of faith
• Friends determined to help each other
-Eric Hellinger
