A couples years ago, I decided to read the Bible all the way through, chronologically. I found a great chronological guide online and I’ve been working through it for a while now. The problem is that I keep getting distracted!

I keep on reading a lot of Proverbs and I often just want to page through the Gospels and Epistles. Some days I want to read chapter after chapter, while other days the Lord speaks to me through just a couple of verses.

One theme that has struck me from throughout scripture is the work of God in relation to the work of man. In fact, it’s really starting to rock my paradigm of ministry.

You see, I had come to see ministry as a whole lot of hard work. As a servant of the Lord devoted to doing His work seeing “His kingdom come and His will be done” here on earth, I had to put in my time, blood, sweat and tears.

I’m happy to do that and I’m more than willing to go the extra mile to serve the Lord and serve others. But as I try to flood my mind with the reality of God’s word, I see a different strategy at work.

Instead of God relying and working through people’s hard work, God often works miracles in spite of what believers do or don’t do. God isn’t just sitting around waiting for believers to take action. He’s got a plan, and He is doing whatever it takes to make that plan come to pass.

This came to mind especially as I read about Peter ministering to Cornelius’ family (Acts 10). God spoke to Cornelius to send for Peter. Then God gave Peter a vision to show him that salvation was for the gentiles, too (because Cornelius was a gentile the Jews originally thought salvation was only for the circumcised). When Cornelius’ servants arrived, Peter went with them, preached the Gospel, and then the Holy Spirit fell on the entire family–shocking even the circumcised believers that were with Peter!

What an amazing meeting to have been in, to see God working in such a way! And that is just my point: It was God working. Peter didn’t plan this trip. He didn’t knock on Cornelius’ door to share the Gospel. From beginning to end, this meeting was a work of God.

I’m not trying to say that we need to sit back and can’t do anything unless God begins to work supernaturally. What I am saying is that we all need a wake up call every now and again–especially me!–to remember that the Lord is the Chief Minister and we are His servants–and friends. He has given us much to “work” with through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the truth of the Gospel. But we can never take what He has given us and try to “make ministry happen” on our own.

I pray that this quick nugget is an encouragement to you as we continue to strive to serve the Lord by ministering to students!

What stories or verses come to mind for you when you think about God moving in spite of man’s work? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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