The Work of Our Hands

I left teaching – for the second time – about two years ago. I was writing a lot on the blog and for a book, with a couple of other books stewing around between my brain and my husband’s. I was very passionate about my relationship with God and devoted to enriching that with study. I told my co-worker, Misty, that I felt like my job was getting in the way of my work. After praying about it, discussing it, and with the support of my husband, I quit my job in education with full intentions to… “Work full-time for Jesus,” as I responded to all who inquired.

Well, I may have quit my job in education, but I quickly discovered my education was far from over.

My life took a very different turn than I expected. Instead of churning out books, developing our ministry, and producing a plethora of works in the name of the Lord, I found myself a student in a master class of Truth. Truth about everything: myself, my intentions, what it means to REALLY put God before coffee, my goals, my relationship with God, my actions, where my heart really was, etc. There’s an awful lot of “MY” in there…which I know, means “Me, Me, Me.” But you have to be examined under a microscope before you can finally see beyond the fog of self to what really matters.

What really matters?

Jesus.

Only Jesus.

The Process of Sanctification

Doing something that ensures we are remembered is a very human trait. Everybody wants to be remembered…right? 

Wrong.

That’s one of the Truths I’ve learned in my master’s class.

I don’t want to be remembered. 

Oh, I know that my family and friends would mourn if I died, and they would remember me. But we are all a generation or two away from being distant memories and forgotten branches on a family tree with earthly roots. And that’s okay. That’s the way it should be. I want no worldly monuments to my name – celebrating my existence. I am not the one who should be remembered. I only want my life to point to Jesus. He is the only one who should be remembered. For those who’ve known me, my life should be an ever evolving walk on a path leading me closer to God. That’s what you should be able to see. An active change should be visible. That’s working full-time for Jesus.

As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ, (Philippians 1:27). 

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, (Galatians 2:20).

This is sanctification. It’s not perfect, because I am not perfect. But when I stumble now, it grieves me. My human flaws and sinful ways are painful to me.

I truly believed my heart was in the right place when I quit my job. Maybe it was, but what I was planning for my future was not exactly what God had planned.

The book I was writing had a beginning and an end. I was working on editing and looking forward to publishing. I realized though, there was more to the story. It wasn’t finished, but I didn’t know why. One day it finally came to me…I hadn’t lived it yet. I couldn’t finish the book until I lived and understood what God wanted me to live through and understand.  So, He’ll tell me when that happens.

Learning How Work is Established

My life has changed so much since then. I’ve moved – more than once, and I now find myself looking for a job. Yep! A job. Again.

I was just passed over for a position I thought I was perfect for. I didn’t have my heart totally set on it, but I was just proud enough to think I would be a front-runner. Superior to my pride is my trust in the Lord, and I know His plans are perfect. Yet I have to admit that it stung just a little when I was completely overlooked – no phone call, no email, nothing – and the job was offered to someone else without me getting so much as an interview. Here’s your humble pie with mile-high meringue and a silver spoon to eat it with. While I choked on that pie, I knew God was looking out for me. I trust Him. I really do.

The day I found out the job was filled, I reflected on my study from earlier that same morning. It was on Psalm 90 – a prayer of Moses:

1 Lord, you have been our refuge
in every generation.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity, you are God.
3 You return mankind to the dust,
saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
4 For in your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that passes by,
like a few hours of the night.
5 You end their lives; they sleep.
They are like grass that grows in the morning—
6 in the morning it sprouts and grows;
by evening it withers and dries up.
7 For we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;
we end our years like a sigh.
10 Our lives last seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;
indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.
11 Who understands the power of your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear that is due you.
12 Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
13 LORD—how long?
Turn and have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love
so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen adversity.
16 Let your work be seen by your servants,
and your splendor by their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
establish for us the work of our hands—
establish the work of our hands!

I could talk for pages and pages about this powerful prayer, but let’s focus on what I was studying that morning, verse 17: Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands – establish the work of our hands!

Establish the work of our hands.

I wanted that so bad. That whatever job I get, the Lord would establish the work of my hands, and that work I want to be for Him. I felt assured that He would lead me to an opportunity where I could do just that.

My ego may have been bruised by that serving of humble pie, but that is only because I am still human. My spirit was uplifted and soars because I know that God didn’t want me there. There is something else He wants me to do, and I will find it in my search for Him.

What is the work Moses prayed about that God will establish?

It is when we let our work be our lives lived for Him. When we die to self, and live for Him, each day anew, always looking forward.

Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 3:13-14).

Close the gate on the past. Pain, sorrow, sin, shame, success, failure, joy, whatever. Look forward to what is ahead and stay focused on Jesus.

Wherever my job search takes me, my work will always be to do what the Lord will establish.

May God bless your pursuit to know Him more.

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