Stewarding Your Calling
One of the most amazing Scriptures is Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." It's amazing because it speaks to how specific and purpose-oriented God was in forming Jeremiah and giving him life. The same is true for every person God creates.
I didn't pursue a role in full-time ministry. I didn't go to seminary or bible college to become a pastor. Instead, I became an aircraft mechanic because I like all things mechanical. I've always been curious how things work but even more obsessed with taking something that's broken or doesn't work as designed and bringing it back to life.
For 16 years, I fixed airplanes, and I am pleased to report, none of the planes I've worked on crashed or had an inflight emergency. I was a good mechanic, and I served a good purpose all those years. Did God intend me to be an aircraft mechanic all those years? I believe he did. Ephesians 2:10 confirms it. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
God made me inquisitive and then gave me the ability to learn and understand complex systems and how they work together so that He could use that ability in me to help others travel safely in an aluminum tube thousands of feet above the earth. What's even more astounding is that he planned this in advance, before I was even born.
Years ago, after leaving the aircraft maintenance industry and going into full-time vocational ministry, a friend asked me to make two lists. One list was to describe my duties as an aircraft mechanic. The other, to describe my duties as a stewardship pastor. After some time, she gave me a side-by-side breakdown of my work in each of these two professions, helping me to see something I had missed entirely. My gifts and abilities for doing both jobs were exactly the same.
God knows you intimately, and he's put inside of you everything you need to do the good works He wants you to do. I want to be clear here, the work I did working as an aircraft mechanic had just as much potential for good as did the work I did as a stewardship pastor. All work has value when done well and for the right reason. The question I'm asking, and one all of us need to be asking regardless of what we're doing, is this, "Is the work that I'm doing the good work that God prepared for me to do?
Stewarding Your Calling
Nine years ago, God gave me a vision of something I would be involved in that He was going to do. To this day, I don't have absolute clarity of what it means or how it will pan out. I've also considered more recently that it's quite possible that I'm not going to see the fulfillment of the vision in my time.
The problem with receiving visions from God is that we tend to behave like a dog with a new bone. We jump in trying to make it come into being by our efforts, connecting even the most minor occurrence or event to justify its progression. I did that. And then God closed the door on my plan, leaving me to doubt whether the vision was of my own making or really from God.
Have you been there? Did you receive a promise from God, a vision, or a dream of the future, and then,…nothing? It can leave you feeling like you missed it, and it makes you question what else you might have missed.
Knowing my doubtful thoughts, four years ago, God showed me the vision again, and in a loving but stern way, said to me, "Is anything too difficult for Me?" Although reassured of the vision, I still didn't know what to do. So I asked, "What should I do?" That was the wrong question!
Let's again look at Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 2:10. This time pay attention to the words emphasized.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
God, in response to my question, said, "It is not what you should do; it's what I want to do." I missed the most critical part of the vision. It wasn't mine to accomplish. Like these Scriptures clearly show, the work is not ours. It is something God is doing.
Jeremiah was formed, consecrated, and appointed to be a prophet to the nations. He struggled with the task because he misunderstood his role. The work of getting the nations to repent and turn to God was not up to him. Being welcomed and accepted was not part of the job. His role was to speak what God would put in his mouth to speak. That's it!
Similarly, Paul didn't write to the Ephesians to instruct them to "do good works." Frankly, they were no more cable of doing good works out of their own strength than we are. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says this about this passage, "The purpose of these prepared-in-advanced works is not "to work in them" but "to walk in them." In other words, God has prepared a path of good works for believers, which He will perform in and through them as they walk by faith. This does not mean doing a work for God; instead, it is God performing His work in and through believers."
God has a great purpose for your life.
Like Jeremiah, God knew you before He formed you in your mother's womb. As his child, he's consecrated you for good works that you should walk in them. He's placed gifts and abilities inside of you so you can join him in the work he is doing.
For Further Reading:
What Does the Bible Say About Spending?
What the Widow’s Gift Says About Giving
How to Set Your House in Order
Are You Called to Stewardship Ministry?
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