In the past, I\u2019ve made an idol out of my calling in life. There were countless times when I cried out to God, asking Him to \u201cmake it clear\u201d what He wanted me to do with this life. While it\u2019s true that I really did want to know how to spend my days and focus my attention, what I really wanted was certainty. I thought if God could just point me in the generally right direction, I could start hustling to make something of myself. What I wanted was the assurance I wouldn\u2019t fail. I wanted control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But God doesn\u2019t offer us the assurance of this kind of control. He does, however, promise His faithful love and His promise to be present with His people (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5). Our God is not the means to an end\u2014He\u2019s the beginning, the end, and everything in between (Revelation 22:13). And so calling isn\u2019t so much a sure destination but an invitation into a deeper relationship with our Creator God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the ways God has invited me to experience Him is through the gifts He\u2019s given me. When I read about Bezalel in Exodus 31, I see God\u2019s same commitment to be present through both calling and gifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LORD also spoke to Moses: \u201cLook, I have appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with God\u2019s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft to design artistic works.\u201d Bezalel was an artisan with a big calling over his life: to lead the creation of the tabernacle, the place where God would take up residence with His people. Still, God didn\u2019t leave Bezalel to fend for himself in the face of such an enormous undertaking. He sent Himself\u2014His Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew word ruach is translated as \u201cGod\u2019s Spirit,\u201d and here it refers to God\u2019s personal presence and power coming forth to empower God\u2019s people to do the specific tasks He\u2019s called us to do. The Creator of the universe called Bezalel to create something God surely could have made on His own\u2014no doubt perfectly and far more efficiently. Instead, He gifted and called a man like Bezalel. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because our God is relational, revealing His glory through creation and those who bear His image (Genesis 1:26\u201328). He doesn\u2019t need us or the work of our hands, but He wants us and He invites us to share in His work. By His Spirit He gives us gifts to do that work (1Corinthians 12:4\u20137). It\u2019s a precedent He set in the garden. God is about bringing eternity here to earth now, creating space for Him to dwell\u2014to tabernacle\u2014with His people. For those who call Jesus Christ \u201cLord,\u201d that meeting place is now within us, by His Spirit (2Corinthians 6:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the call, He\u2019s already given us everything we need to accomplish it (1Peter 1:3). The gifts He gives us are a vehicle through which we can know Him better, accomplish His will, bring Him glory, and care for His creation and people.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the past, I\u2019ve made an idol out of my calling in life. There were countless times when I cried out to God, asking Him to \u201cmake it clear\u201d what He wanted me to do with this life. While it\u2019s true that I really did want to know how to spend my days and focus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":72154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pitot"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72122],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"BEZALEL<\/b> In the past, I\u2019ve made an idol out of my calling in life. There were countless times when I cried out to God, asking Him to \u201cmake it clear\u201d what He wanted me to do with this life. While it\u2019s true that I really did want to know how to spend my days and focus my attention, what I really wanted was certainty. I thought if God could just point me in the generally right direction, I could start hustling to make something of myself. What I wanted was the assurance I wouldn\u2019t fail. I wanted control.<\/p> But God doesn\u2019t offer us the assurance of this kind of control. He does, however, promise His faithful love and His promise to be present with His people (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5). Our God is not the means to an end\u2014He\u2019s the beginning, the end, and everything in between (Revelation 22:13). And so calling isn\u2019t so much a sure destination but an invitation into a deeper relationship with our Creator God.<\/p> One of the ways God has invited me to experience Him is through the gifts He\u2019s given me. When I read about Bezalel in Exodus 31, I see God\u2019s same commitment to be present through both calling and gifting.<\/p> The LORD also spoke to Moses: \u201cLook, I have appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with God\u2019s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft to design artistic works.\u201d Bezalel was an artisan with a big calling over his life: to lead the creation of the tabernacle, the place where God would take up residence with His people. Still, God didn\u2019t leave Bezalel to fend for himself in the face of such an enormous undertaking. He sent Himself\u2014His Spirit.<\/p> The Hebrew word ruach is translated as \u201cGod\u2019s Spirit,\u201d and here it refers to God\u2019s personal presence and power coming forth to empower God\u2019s people to do the specific tasks He\u2019s called us to do. The Creator of the universe called Bezalel to create something God surely could have made on His own\u2014no doubt perfectly and far more efficiently. Instead, He gifted and called a man like Bezalel. Why?<\/p> Because our God is relational, revealing His glory through creation and those who bear His image (Genesis 1:26\u201328). He doesn\u2019t need us or the work of our hands, but He wants us and He invites us to share in His work. By His Spirit He gives us gifts to do that work (1Corinthians 12:4\u20137). It\u2019s a precedent He set in the garden. God is about bringing eternity here to earth now, creating space for Him to dwell\u2014to tabernacle\u2014with His people. For those who call Jesus Christ \u201cLord,\u201d that meeting place is now within us, by His Spirit (2Corinthians 6:16).<\/p> Whatever the call, He\u2019s already given us everything we need to accomplish it (1Peter 1:3). The gifts He gives us are a vehicle through which we can know Him better, accomplish His will, bring Him glory, and care for His creation and people.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"16","scripture":"Exodus 31:1-11, Exodus 35:30-35, Exodus 36:1-7","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2014Exodus 31:1\u20134<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\r\nby Kara Gause<\/i>
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\u2014Exodus 31:1\u20134<\/em><\/p>
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n