God's Best vs. Our Best

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media] 

There are many ways to change the world. Some people do it by becoming a missionary, some people do it by wiping runny noses, some people do it by serving food to those who don’t have enough, some people do it by being a listening ear, some people do it by showing up to the same job every day for forty seven years, or any combination of these and so many more. And each time we say “Yes” to one of these things, we are, even without paying attention, saying “No” to a million other ways to spend our time. How we are uniquely designed and called to serve God will look different for almost every single one of us. At the core though, our mission is the same--to live each day so that we become more and more like Jesus. 

Photo Credit: Martin Wessely

God called Nehemiah to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. As he carried out this project, many distractions presented themselves. In Nehemiah 6, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem repeatedly tried to lure Nehemiah away from his project, claiming they had important things to discuss with him. Nehemiah saw right through it though. I love what he prays. The way he responds to people talking bad about him is filled with so much more grace and calm than I would be capable of having in the same situation. Instead of getting distracted and praying for God to smite these people talking bad about him, or for them to at least stop spreading these rumors, Nehemiah prays for something directly related to the scope of the project he’s actually working on. It’s simply, “Now strengthen my hands.” The crucial thing that Nehemiah understood was that it didn’t matter what others thought of him or his project, but that he followed God and did that project well. He had to be wise enough to recognize when even seemingly good things were going to get in the way of what his ultimate thing was. 

We see something else very important here--this is the second time Nehemiah prays a very specific prayer about what he’s doing. In Nehemiah 2:4, as he’s asking the king for permission to even begin this project, Nehemiah “prayed to the God of heaven.” All throughout this story, Nehemiah keeps his focus on the one who’s ultimately in charge of its success or failure: God. Nehemiah knew the project wasn’t really his; it belonged to God, so it didn’t matter whether the project succeeded or failed according to human standards, as long as he followed God. The same is true in our own lives. Whatever the size and scope of our project, whether it’s raising children or running the race or being a good employee, if we’re following God, even if by human standards we “fail,” we fail to the glory of God. 

There are many good, worthy projects we can invest our time and energy into, but we can’t let ourselves get distracted by the good things if they detract from our focus on the best things. It doesn’t necessarily mean we have to quit everything we’re involved in, though by stepping away from some opportunities, we may find it benefits both ourselves and creates spaces for others to lean into what could be their great project. Be reallocating our time and energy, we can better reflect what our priorities should be instead of simply what they have become while we took our eyes off the main thing. 


[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]