Two weeks into our second month in ministry here on the race, and we have yet to have a day of ministry where we go out and share the gospel all day. I thought that was what ministry is….going door to door and sharing the gospel with others….but it´s not the only form of ministry, there are many different kinds, and God is showing them to me and teaching me not to value one more than the other.
Monday through Friday, my team and I do manual labor at a local church here in Palacaguina, Nicaragua. We are helping the people who run the church build an addition to it, that will be used as bible classes for kids. As manual labor is much of what we also did in Costa Rica, my team and myself have had some struggles with overvaluing evangelism and undervaluing manual labor or working with our hands. The way that I have been devaluing manual labor is wrong, and through these struggles the Lord is teaching us the beauty of manual labor for the Kingdom of God.
To start, God was the very first manual laborer. He created all of the things in the world and He created Adam out of the dust, and Eve from a male rib. He then later called Bezalel, who is the first person scripture records as being filled with the Spirit, which provided him all of the things that he needed to build the Tabernacle. (Exodus 31:3) This just goes to show that Bezalel (manual labor worker) was called every bit as much as Moses (knowledge worker), and neither one is more valued than the other. While Moses was gifted by God to read and write, he needed Bezalel and his helpers for the construction of the Tabernacle, and needed them in order to accomplish God´s purposes. Moses´ preaching and Bezalel´s manual labor resulted in God becoming better known.
The Lord is showing me through the Word that all of the gifts He gives us are beautiful, and He has ordained needs for us to meet with those gifts that He has freely given. If God has blessed you with Bezalel type gifts, cherish them and use them for His glory and purpose, don´t try to be a Moses. If God has gifted you with Moses type gifts, cherish and use them for His glory, and encourage the Bezalel´s of the world because they are both of equal value, and are both needed to accomplish His purpose.
We sometimes wonder how we can glorify God in a crowded kitchen, a giant factory, in a huge field with a plow or a tractor. We can do so by using the gifts that He has given us with honesty, integrity, and hard work that will lead to excellence. We can´t do this on our own though, like Bezalel, we need the filling of the Holy Spirit in all that we do, and Thank God that it is given to us freely.
