The Way God Works

(This is an old post from another blog, but re-reading it this morning, I found it suggestive of Friedman’s theory of well-differentiated leadership).

I’m a little nervous about the title of this post. Life has convinced me of late that the way God works is always a mystery. His ways are above our ways—far beyond our understanding.

Yet, in reading Ezra/Nehemiah this past month, I was struck by the marriage of the spiritual and the practical. In these books, Ezra compiled a post-exilic history of the rebuilding in Jerusalem of the temple and its worship and of the city walls. In doing so, he captures what I will call “mirror images” of the way God works.

On the one side, we see the work of God as if God alone is working—driving events to a conclusion. On the other side, Ezra highlights the efforts of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah as if everything depended on them and their faithfulness.

Nehemiah 4:9 states this age-old tension between “the sovereignty of God and the free-will of man” in a classic statement. Threatened by enemies, this verse records: “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” Who was it, God or the guard, who preserved them from the threat?

We might simply answer “well, it’s both” and overlook one of the main lessons from Ezra/Nehemiah. As we attempt to “build works of multiplying discipleship,” this book teaches us to hold both the “sovereignty of God and the free will of man” in dynamic tension.

Though intellectually incompatible— representing opposite ends of the spectrum on how things happen—God’s sovereignty and man’s free will are practically and spiritually compatible. Indeed, holding both in tension are essential to our efforts. God’s work is always hindered when we opt for one image of reality while ignoring the other.

Let me offer several lessons from Ezra/Nehemiah on the way God works:

1. God “stirs the hearts” of key leaders to fulfill his word and accomplish his work (Ezra 1:1; 5; Neh. 1:2-4). Key leaders “rise up and choose to do a work” they think needs doing (Ezra 3:2-4; 5:2; Neh. 2:18; 4:6). In other words, if you perceive something that needs doing at your location, then perhaps God is stirring your heart. Rise up and do it.

2. God puts “his gracious hand upon the work” (Ezra 5:5; 7:6,9,28; 8:18, 31; Neh. 1:11; 2:8,18; 6:18). Key leaders and people use their position and influence and strengthen their hands to do the work (Ezra 7:11-28; 8; 16-17; Neh. 3:1-32; 4:6). In other words, use your position and influence and strengthen your hands to do the work that needs doing. God will put his hand in yours.

3. God raises up people and gives them a heart to work (Ezra 1:5; 5:1-2; 7:6-10; 8:18; Neh. 1:4; 6:9; 6:16 ). Key leaders “find, recruit, and empower the right people to do the work.” (Ezra 2:1-70; 3:8-10; 6:14; 8:1- 20; Neh. 3:1-32; 7:1-4; 10:1-27). In other words, God uses your efforts to challenge and empower the right people to do the His work.

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