The First Person God Filled Was Not a Preacher

If you have a paper Bible, turn to Exodus 31 and underline a phrase you have probably read past.

"See, I have called by name Bezalel... and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood."

This is the first time in the entire Bible that God says, I filled this person with My Spirit.

Not a prophet. Not a king. Not someone set apart to preach.

A craftsman. A man who worked with his hands, filled with the Spirit of God so that the quality of what he made would glorify God.

I need you to sit with that, because most of us have it backwards.

An honest confession from a pastor

I work at a church. Most of the people I am around all week are already saved. I love talking about Jesus more than almost anything, and I will force that conversation awkwardly into any setting I can. But the people I reach are mostly in this room.

God designed it that way. The most important thing the local church can do is have church. Scripture says the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher exist to prepare the saints for works of service.

This is the training ground. You are the ones who get sent.

I do not have access to the people you sit next to at work. I do not have access to your neighbor, your child's coach, the woman at the register you see every Thursday. You do. And God filled you with His Spirit for them.

The lie that makes it a grind

Here is what the enemy tells you. What you do is insignificant. You are not making a difference. You are just trying to get through the day, survive the kids, and get to bed.

I know what that feels like. I raised two daughters. One I thought was in training to be Mother Teresa. The other I thought was in training to be a cage fighter. I will not tell you which was which. I know what a temper tantrum in public looks like, and I know the urge to pack it up and go home.

But what if you just Jesused through it?

What if, in the moment the grind got hard, you showed a little more grace and paid a little more attention? Because somebody is watching. And they see something on you they do not have. They start asking why you can operate like that when they cannot. Then they hear you talk to the waitress about Jesus, and they see you pray, and they start putting dots together.

Or maybe your job is monotonous and you are just trying to survive to five o'clock. What if you understood that God filled you with His Spirit so you could not just get through the day, but be so full of peace and purpose that someone slides up next to you in the break room and asks what changed?

You have been waiting for a big, monumental moment. That person is the monumental moment.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Most of the time it is greener over the septic tank.

Stephen waited tables

In Acts 6, a complaint breaks out because widows are being neglected in the daily distribution of food. The apostles say, it is not right for us to leave the word of God to serve tables. Find seven men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will appoint them over the business.

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And he went to work at the food pantry.

He did not preach on the day of Pentecost. He was not called before the council as a teacher. He pushed the carts out, in the heat, to people who needed groceries. The Bible calls caring for widows pure and undefiled religion. He was doing the real work.

And it stirred up the devil so badly that Stephen became the first martyr of the church. As they stoned him, heaven opened and he saw Jesus standing. That moment was so powerful that the kingdom grew because of it.

A man in the middle of the grind, sold out to what God called him to do, made an impact people are still reading about.

Stop waiting for whatever you think is the big thing you are supposed to do with your life. Serving in the grind will make a bigger difference than you could ever imagine.

Salt that stopped being salty

Jesus said you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, it is good for nothing. You are the light of the world. Let your light shine so that people see your good works and glorify your Father.

You lose your flavor when everything becomes common. When you stop treating ordinary moments like they are sacred. When you stop looking for Jesus in the mundane.

And let me show you what a poor witness looks like. It is walking in every day broke down. The devil is beating me up. I am just living for Jesus, glory to God. People already feel like that. Why would they want another layer of it?

A real witness is this. The devil is on top of you, and somebody checks on you, and you say, I am doing good, because the Holy Spirit anointed me for this moment. His peace is alive in me. He is already guiding me. I am going to be okay.

Then they ask if they can have that, too.

The morning I almost turned around

I walked in the building one Sunday this month, worn out, and thought, I should just drive home and get back in bed. People will complain about the construction plastic. Something will be broken. I will call Clay and let him preach.

I never turned the steering wheel.

Here is why. Jesus shines brighter through me in my weakest, most exhausted moments than at any other time. When I am weak, He is strong. When you go through the motions and never activate Him, nobody sees Him. But when you take your life off cruise control and realize this moment is anointed, that God positioned you in time and space for such a time as this, everything changes. You stop measuring the spiritual condition of your surroundings and start changing it.

Committed to you

Paul says God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Think about that. The Creator of the universe could send an angel to a different city every day at noon. It would be faster than using me. That is not His plan. His plan is you, the most gifted and anointed person at His disposal for the people He has placed around you.

You are the right amount of salt. You are the right amount of light. And He is using you to draw people to Himself.

It is not a grind. It is ministry. It is not mundane. It is the kingdom. It is not just another day. It is the chance to make a difference in the world as we know it, and it is all around you, all the time.

• Who are the people you see every week that your pastor will never meet?
• Where have you been waiting for a big moment while an ordinary one sat right in front of you?
• What would it look like to Jesus through the hardest part of your day tomorrow?
• Is your witness more broke down or more anointed? What would the people around you say?