Doing A Great Work I

"...' I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?''" (Neh. 6:3, NIV).
"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded" (2 Chron. 15:7, NIV).
It's all in a nutshell by a sermon William Carey preached, titled "Expect Great Things From God, Attempt Great Things for God."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that we don't do great things, just little things with great love. It's not our achievements that God is pleased with, but our faithfulness. Mother Teresa also said that God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness. Indeed, he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much as Jesus said. We are all to give an account of our stewardship and will be rewarded according to our works--not our faith. Jesus said that He had finished the work God gave Him and was ready to enter His glory in John 17:4. Nehemiah boasted that he was engaged in "a great work" for the Lord and wouldn't be interrupted. Jeremiah warns against doing the Lord's work with slackness (cf. Jer. 48:10)!

Some people are performance-oriented and will say at Judgment Day that they did great works in the Lord's name, even casting out demons; however, their faith was in their works, not the Lord! Misplaced faith, though big, doesn't save--it's the object that matters. All achievements are eventually outdone and eclipsed, all records will be broken, all reputations will fade, all tributes will be forgotten, and trophies will be lost or decayed, but what we do in the Lord's name in His power (that are ordained for us to do per Eph. 2:10) will not go unnoticed nor unrewarded. These good deeds will not be in vain. Isaiah said in Isa. 49:4, NIV, "But I said, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God.'" Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:58, NIV, "...Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

There has been much evil done in the Lord's name (the Catholic Inquisition, the Salem witch hunts, the Crusades, and the Thirty-Years War et al.) but what is done in the Lord means in the right spirit and in the power of the Spirit. I'm not against good works, just those done in the power of the flesh.

In the final analysis, no one will be able to boast of his works that God did through him but will give glory to God for being a vessel of honor, as Paul said in Romans 15:18, KJV, that he would not "dare to speak of any of those things Christ hath not wrought by [him]..." or venture to mention anything but what God accomplished through him." In sum, we're all "doing a great work," if it's done in the Lord, and we ought not to belittle anyone's task or gift for without Christ we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). Soli Deo Gloria!

Doing A Great Work II

"LORD,  ... all that we have accomplished, you have done for us," (cf. Isaiah 26:12, NIV).

"... your fruitfulness comes from me," (cf. Hosea 14:8, NIV).

"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for the finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus--the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God," (cf. Acts 20:24, NLT).

"But none of these things move me, neither do I count my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus," (cf. Acts 20:24, KJV).

"I venture not to speak of nothing but what Christ has accomplished through me," (cf. Romans 15:18).  

 Nehemiah was not a prophet, nor a priest, nor a king, and he did no miracles, in fact, he was like any of us (he was only a cupbearer to the king), and did what we can do when the LORD blesses our work and we are called to do His will and we realize and fulfill our mission.  The book has no miracles, prophecies, nor great teaching, revelation, or wisdom, or poetry, but it shows God's quiet hand at work behind the scenes in the everyday work of the LORD.  Things we can do if we have a work ethic like his! 

But he was in a funk because he mourned for the city of David, Zion, the Jewish capital of Jerusalem, that it was in ruins. His depression became known to the king and he had the audacity to ask permission to take a leave of absence to repair his beloved city.  What do you know? His request was granted. The Jews were in exile but soon to return to the Promised Land and Job One was to rebuild the Wall. We see in this book of Nehemiah that he is the greatest motivator in the Bible, for he got results and the people worked for him with godly zeal. When we dedicate our work and effort to the LORD, we also get blessed in the fruit of our labors. 

We can see the hand of God upon him throughout the book even though it is not mentioned in particular. The one time that it does seem to give God the glory is when it says that the wall was rebuilt in only fifty-two days, a miracle in itself. Nehemiah was not a micromanager but he knew that when people believed they were doing God's work that he would get results.  He probably thought that if he didn't do it, that it wouldn't get done  He saw a need and fulfilled it; a key to success!  Thus the value and necessity of the work.  He saw that it was God who opened the doors for him to even get to first base and this was obvious: the LORD was with him from the get-go. He knew to abide in Christ so to speak or to walk with God as they said in the Old Testament. Though he was obedient to the heavenly vision, he knew he would get and did get opposition. He had enemies!  

When they tried to interrupt him while at work, he said, "I cannot come down [from the wall] for I am doing a great work."  He saw the LORD's work as a great and grand one and that it brought Him glory. The point is that he was obedient for faith and obedience are linked: Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  And he was like Habakkuk, who said, "The righteous shall live by faith [their faithfulness]."  (cf. Heb. 10:28; Romans 1:17).  We must see that faith and faithfulness are the same Hebrew word and they cannot be separated, only distinguished; they go hand in hand!   

This great motivator and leader of men knew how to inspire as well; to give the men a work ethic! "The people had a mind to work!"  That's what you call having the mindset for the LORD's work.  When the people faced opposition and enemies on the wall, even as they worked, he told them: "Fight for your families..."  People have to be able to put things into perspective and have a reason to fight. Remember the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem Charge of the Light Brigade that goes:  "Ours is not to reason why is our to do and die." That kind of attitude seems glum and depressing but that is often the only motivation the world will give you. 

We must see that God's work is our privilege and we can take part in accomplishing His will to bring Him glory.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."  We are to "trust in the LORD with all our heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths."  (cf. Prov. 3:5-6).  We must understand that all that we accomplish is by God's working in us and He did it through us as His instruments of glory or honor; as Paul said, in Romans 15:18, "I venture not to speak of nothing but what the Lord has accomplished through me." 

In sum, nothing can give you the doldrums faster and more seriously than knowing the will of God and not being able to do it, and nothing can bounce you out of it faster than getting to work doing His will and making yourself useful in the kingdom work and God's will or completing the calling and mission God gave you; therefore, if your calling is to climb rocks, hope for rocks and even that you will die doing God's will and what you enjoy, just like they asked Saint Francis what he would do if only he had one hour to live while he was doing his gardening at the convent, and he said that he would finish his gardening!  Soli Deo Gloria!