And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col. 3:17
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Rev 3:2
Our life experiences can help us understand teachings in the Bible in both encouraging and challenging ways. I’m in the midst of one of them as we are in a huge repair and renovation project of our almost 50-year-old mobile home.
Renovation work is nothing new for me because in addition to writing and teaching Bible classes for Jesus all my working life, my husband and I worked for churches where he was an associate (translated paid-almost-nothing) pastor. I’ve never been paid for the classes, communications work, and various other jobs I’ve done in the church as the supportive pastor’s wife. That means we’ve always had to work additional jobs to pay for our ministry habits. Most of that work has been in various home construction and renovation jobs. When I tell a subcontractor, “Don’t give me that excuse….I’ve done (painting, construction, etc., fill in the blank) work since before you were born,” I mean it.
What is unique in this situation is that at 75 years old I can’t do all I did in the past (like totally renovating a cottage by myself before I was married) and I must rely on other workers to do what I can’t. I know the analogy is not perfect as our God does not age or wear out, but I’ve been thinking about how He entrusts us to do His work on earth as I observe how various people who work for me carry out their jobs.
I pray I’m not as disappointing to the Lord as several of my workers are to me.
Here is what I’ve encountered with three workers
Worker #1—He is consistently late. He promises me when he will show up, but every day he arrives half an hour to two hours later. If he says he will be gone for 20 minutes to pick up some material he forgot (that I specifically told him to bring earlier), he shows up hours later. He lies. He makes excuses. He complains. He thinks he knows better than I do how to do something (and is consistently wrong). The quality of his work is good when he finally gets a project done but I will never use him again after the three projects he is contracted to do. (Between the first and final draft of this piece we had to terminate him for destructive lies, stealing, and not ordering materials he said he had and that were paid for.)
Worker #2—We’ve worked with him on many projects in the past on construction projects with our regular work that we’ve done, his prices are great, and I trust him. He does good work. But he likes to go fishing. He likes to fish a lot. He also has a habit of leaving the last details of work unfinished. Today he is finally putting cabinet doors back up on a project he started over a month ago (and then worked on other things). He thinks he knows better than I do how some things should be done and often challenges me until I calmly point out why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I need him to do things a certain way.
Worker #3—He does what I tell him to do when he says he will do it. He doesn’t question why or when I need something done and he trusts I have the big plan in mind. He simply does his work. He does a good job and doesn’t complain. He is calm and pleasant to be around. He isn’t as skilled in many areas as Workers #1 and #2 but I will use him in every job possible. I often pay him a weekly bonus as he frequently exceeds my expectations.
As I’ve observed the three workers and my experience of them as Project Manager, I can’t help but think how similar it is to how the Lord has given us the responsibility to do His work on earth—to build much more than an earthly house, but the Kingdom of God.
Here is what I’ve learned from the three workers
Worker #1 has taught me that work needs to match words. He has loudly claimed, “I am a man of God” and then proceeded to steal from us. I am praying he wakes up to the disconnect in his words and work. At the same time, I need to be sure that my actions reflect that I’m a follower of Jesus.
Worker #2 challenges me to focus on my work for the Lord and the Kingdom of God and not get distracted. My distractions may not be overtly sinful (as going fishing isn’t sinful) but if they take time that should be spent on the Lord’s calling in my life they are not what I should be about. I need to focus on my calling in Jesus. Mindlessly scrolling through Pinterest for one more decorating idea fits into this challenge and is something I need to control.
Worker #3 reminds me that cheerful, consistent work is incredibly valuable. The Bible tells us to do all things “without griping or complaining” and I’ve realized more than ever what a sign of distrust it is when we complain about life situations or if we think we know better than our Lord does the direction our life should take. I want my workers to know I have the big picture in mind and to trust me to do the jobs I ask them to do even though they don’t know my final plans.
From all of them, I realized (and this is a big one for me) how important it is to finish the work our Lord has called me to do.
I want to be a good worker, one pleasant to be around, who works cheerfully and contentedly and gets done the work I’m assigned, whether it is in the construction tasks I’m still able to do or the writing and teaching to share His Word.
We do work for the Master Carpenter
One more thing. I know the Lord knows all there is to know about everything, but I find it quietly satisfying when I’m working with my hands, that Jesus was also a “teckton” a carpenter, a builder. That tangibly and in our messy world, he physically experienced building things also.
I invite him to work with me as we remodel my little home together and as I write and teach in between times of paint and dust. In all I build, I want my master Carpenter to be pleased with the work of my hands.