“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
Make your plans, get everything in order, set a date to begin, but unless it glorifies God and draws all attention away from you, it will fail at what you desired.
Every director or producer of a movie wants people to know they are the people that initiated the film, every actor wants their name on the credits, they want recognition, it is part of their pay. I cannot tell you how many times, but I am sure it is more than once, where in the Scriptures I have read of a man sent from God, a prophet to perform a task in His name, but that prophet’s name was nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. I have always wondered; how did they feel about that when they got to heaven.
The entire Word of God is in heaven. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matt. 24:35) and you can read it anytime you want to I would guess. So, this prophet gets the book, opens it up to the place where he was used by the Almighty, and reads the account, but not his name. A twinge of sadness perhaps? I don’t know. But to the point of this short letter, the tasks that the Lord has laid upon you, are you like those in the movie credits where even the guy that brings the sandwiches wants his name upon the screen, or are you satisfied to be left unnoticed, as long as the Lord is glorified?
How many church marques have you seen that have the pastors name on it somewhere?
My beautiful wife takes gospel tracts with her whenever we go somewhere, leaving them on shelves for people to find, her name is not on them, nor our telephone number, the point is to lift up the name of Jesus, to glorify God, not her. How much recognition do you need as a child of God, the inverse of what most Christians are today, almost fearful, even embarrassed to mention the name of the Lord.
“This money donated by …” “These pews purchased by …” “This plaque in memory of …”
Nameless, faceless, offering ourselves for His glory with no recognition, nay, not even any acceptance of recognition for ourselves.
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matt. 6:6)
The worker who is worthy of his wages is paid by God, he or she does not seek their own, they do not seek the praise of men, but the glory of God and my friends, there are going to be a lot of unnamed people in this respect in heaven.
I believe that men of God who are led by the Holy Spirit to write books would just as soon not even have their names on the cover, but there must be something there besides the title. It is God that is to receive the glory. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1st Cor 4:7)
Pride is a terrible thing, is it not, it can lead us to self-recognition and away from a Spirit led life. “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” (Matt. 6:2)
Yours, if you are one of the nameless ones, are waiting for you at home, and like those prophets whose names we do not yet know, that is where your heart is, and so that is where you want your treasure to be.