The Value of Depending on God for Every Good Work
I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. They said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. — Nehemiah 2:18
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, so our plans must align with God’s will and seek His glory. Like Nehemiah, we need to pray before we act, acknowledge our disobedience, and attend first to the spiritual condition of our people. A work may seem godly and sustainable, but it becomes fragile if it does not depend on God: we must wait for Him to work in our hearts. Opposition does not remove that dependence; it calls us to seek His guidance. Amid spiritual ruin, the Gospel can restore what we have neglected and encourage us to join action with words, remaining faithful in much and in little.
The Word of God says that we have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works (Eph 2:10). This statement is, in large measure, a good reason to surrender ourselves to Christ. Believers should shape a life plan that harmonizes with God’s desires and dreams. His plans are our plans; His work is our commitment.
To trust in God is to rest in His faithfulness, certain that He has the best options and the best solutions for our plans.
Do we entrust our projects to God? Do we first bathe them in prayer until we find favor before Him? That is what Nehemiah did before embarking on the adventure of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, 1,500 kilometers from Persia, where he served as the king’s cupbearer. He did not pray for the fallen walls but for the spiritual condition of his exiled brothers and sisters, who were suffering calamities in Judah and still living in constant humiliation. He wept over his own disobedience and that of his people in failing to keep God’s precepts. His cry was a desperate plea to return to God and renew a relationship of blessing with the Father of the nation. Above all else, Nehemiah depended on divine authority to advance that noble and demanding undertaking. “The king granted my request, because God was acting on my behalf” (Neh 2:8).
When God sets out to carry a work forward, He spares no resources or strategies. This is all the more true when it comes to the spiritual restoration of His children. When you want to experience God’s presence and intervention in any of your plans, entrust them to Him, and be sure that your purpose in carrying them forward and bringing them to completion is to glorify Him.
Personally, I have seen Christian projects that seemed logical and financially sustainable, with supposedly pious goals and approaches, but in the end they became spiritually fragile and brittle. The reason for those failures lay not in their conception but in their dedication. We must learn to pray and wait for God to do His work first in our hearts. God does not bless what He does not initiate. We must depend on Him to do His work.
When God chooses godly and consecrated men to carry His work forward, they will encounter opposition along the way. David spent many years facing great opposition: “Many are my enemies, Lord; many are those who oppose me” (Ps 3:1). Paul personally suffered the blows of fierce opposition among his own people and the Gentiles. Jesus encountered opposition among His people. “…We have found this man stirring up our nation. He opposes paying taxes to the emperor and claims that he is the Christ, a king.” (Luke 23:2). All of them depended on the Lord and cried out in prayer for the Father’s guidance and direction. Their dependence on God resulted in victory.
The world in which we live and preach lies in spiritual ruin. Its values reject and despise the values of the Kingdom. The good news is that the Gospel can rebuild and repair the walls we have allowed to fall through indulgence, through taking shortcuts in life that depart from God’s will. When we know that we are at the center of His will and depend entirely on Him, we inspire confidence and enthusiasm as we take part in His work. “Come on, take heart! Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that no one will mock us anymore! Then I told them how God’s gracious hand had been with me… When they heard this, they exclaimed, ‘Let’s get to work!’ And they matched their actions to their words.” (Neh 2:17–18).
My prayer is that the value of depending on God in everything we do will become a bulwark for living a life in Christ that glorifies the Lord and encourages us to be faithful in much and in little.
God bless you!