“And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.”  Exodus 36:2

Recently I’ve been looking at what the Bible says about the correlation between my work and my heart.   I found a lot.   In principle, I’ve known for some time that the highest way I can show my love for Jesus is to love Him with my whole heart (and mind, soul and strength Matt 22:37)   Yet this is a commandment that seems to be about loving.    The heart is crucial to love.    But is it crucial to work?

While they may seem relatively insignificant or obscure today, the master craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab (wow, cool names, huh?) were definitely on the “Who’s Who Top 50 List of Old Testament Characters.”   We see them in Exodus when God gave Moses extremely detailed plans to construct a sanctuary and altar.   Moses put them in charge.   They led the pack when it came to precise construction and metal work.   Obviously these guys could handle heavy work, serious tools and complex assembly projects.

But wait.   The story says the Lord stirred their hearts for the work. All the craftsmen and all the people who brought offerings for the work had their hearts stirred.   So did the Jewish remnant who, hundreds of years later, returned from exile to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.   God’s Word says their hearts were stirred.   And God did the stirring.   Even the pagan King Cyrus got his heart stirred (Ezra 1:1 NLT) in order to get about the work the Lord had ordained.   Their hearts were crucial to the work.   These men were seriously hard (and skilled) workers, but they could not have done anything significant without God moving their hearts – without a heart response to a physical and mental challenge.

There are at least two application points for me:

 1)   I must engage my heart to fully obey the Lord’s calling for His work.

2)   Great results (for Kingdom work) only come after God stirs the heart.

 In my technology role with Cru, I work to develop skilled leaders who can lead and administrate highly technical, complex systems.   I love working with these talented guys (…well, mostly guys but a few women too).   Their tech skills help build the Kingdom like Bezalel built the altar – and increase capacity for more people to hear about Jesus.   The skills are important.   But it’s the heart that produces an overflow for work of eternal significance.

Many of you are our financial and prayer partners.   You have skills.    And I know first hand that many of you work extremely hard.   But I also see your heart stirring and moving you – it shines through in your generosity and all the many ways you serve us and others.   Jesus spoke of the “treasury of the heart” (Luke 6:45) and we see it in you.  You motivate Shannon and I to press on towards our goal of being fully funded in our ministry…

 CLIMBING MOUNT FULLY FUNDED

Since last time, Shannon and I have seen the “climber man” (above) scramble up near the 3rd step.   So praise God for progress.

Our prayer request is that the Lord would lead us to at least 12 more individuals or churches who would commit $100/month. Or an equivalent number at a lower monthly amount.  By April 30.

Humanly speaking, our faith goal seems impossible:  $1300 in monthly support raised in 30 days?  But we simply ask God to stir hearts.  Stirred hearts yield impossible things.  Join us in asking Him for this.   By April 30.