God instructed Moses on all the
details of how the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, the Ark of
the Covenant, the clothing of the priests etc should look like.
Everything had to be made with precision and with detail, exactly
as God commanded. And in order to be able to that, people with
special craftsmanship skills were needed.
Now if I were Moses I would have
been wondering the whole time who I would use to make these
beautiful things for God. And when I finally found someone, I would
also have been stressed that they won't be able to make it exactly
as God instructed me. But God had already planned ahead:
"Look, I have chosen Bezalel son of
Uri, grandson of Hur of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with
the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, intelligence, and skill
in all kinds of crafts. He is able to create beautiful objects from
gold, silver and bronze. He is skilled in cutting and setting
gemstones and in carving wood. Yes, he is master at every craft!
And I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of
Judah, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to
all the naturally talented craftsmen so they can make all the
things I have instructed you to make." Exodus 31:2-6
There are two lessons to be learned
from this I think. Firstly, God will provide the necessary skill
when you need it. When He instructed you to do something, He will
take your natural talent and multiply it with His Spirit to help
you to achieve the goal He set before you. Also if you don't have
the necessary talents in certain of the aspects He instructed you
in, He will bring people along your path with the necessary skills
to help you. Moses wasn't a craftsman, he was God's prophet and
spokesperson, he couldn't do everything and God didn't expect it of
him either, God sent people on his way to help him.
Secondly we must all realize that
we are part of God's big plan. Bezalel and Oholiab are not well
known Biblical characters. I am sure if I asked you who they were
before today's devotion, you most probably would not have known. On
the other hand you would most definitely have known who Moses was!
But without them, the Tabernacle would not have been built and
would not have looked as exquisitely as it did. Each one is
important and each task has meaning. Don't think your task is not
important because you are not a modern day Moses. In God's sight
every single one of us is important. All of us. To Him
no one is above another and what pleases Him most is when each one
does the task given to him faithfully. No matter how big or how
small in the eyes of the world. If you do your best and do what God
has asked of you, He will smile broadly at you and will duly reward
you accordingly in heaven.
Lord thank you that each of us can
know that we have a purpose here in the bigger scheme of things. We
don't always see clearly where You want to lead us, but thank you
that we know that You have a bigger plan. Please help us not to
feel inferior towards another's task or envy the role given to
someone else, but please help us to be content with what You have
given us. Thank you Lord. Amen