The One Who Does the Work Gets the Credit

We just had a marvelous event at the Bill Rice Ranch. The Ranch is people who serve in a number of ways. The Ranch is 1,300 acres, and it is a wonderful place to get away, center around the Word of God, and meet people from your church in a good way. We just had an event and it was really good.

People gave me compliments on the meals. I was a great cook. I had people compliment me on the decorations. I am a great decorator. I had people compliment me on the horse rides. They were a little afraid at first, but the ride went well. They enjoyed the outdoors, the early fall, and I did a good job on that. If I sound like I’m being a little facetious, I am being very facetious because I didn’t cook the meals; I didn’t lead the trail ride; I was not responsible for the decorations. I didn’t do any of that. I am simply a representative of the people who did. They were thinking me, but the truth is that other people did all those acts of service.

Perhaps at your church you have a time to thank God where people give testimonies. Maybe there are times when your thanks feels a little bit hollow. Why is that? It may be that you don’t feel as if God is the one responsible for the thing for which you are giving thanks. Every once in a while, it is good to stop spinning your wheels, worrying, wishing, and even praying about the next thing, and stop to take stock of what God, not you, has done.

In Nehemiah 12, God’s people did just that under the leadership of Nehemiah. Verse 27 says, “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing…” They were dedicating the wall to God because it belonged to Him. They were glad and offered thanksgiving to God. Why? It is because, though Nehemiah had led the work and people had done the work, God is the one who was the giver.

The one who does the work gets the credit. To whom did they dedicate this wall? It wasn’t to Nehemiah; it was to God. To whom did they give thanks? It was not to Artaxerxes who gave permission; they gave thanks to God. To whom did they sacrifice in verse 43? They sacrificed to God. Why was there joy? It was because of what God had done. Nehemiah had both led the work and led in the thanksgiving.

So, don’t take credit. It is easy to think, “I’ve done the work. I’m the one who got up at 5 am. I’m the one who worked all day. I had it in my heart to do thus and so.” Nehemiah talks about that which was in his heart, but ultimately Nehemiah realized the greater reality that there is a God. Jerusalem belonged to Him, the walls belonged to Him, the people belonged to Him, and even the conqueror Artaxerxes and his empire belong to Him.

Again, in Nehemiah 9:33 God’s people said, “Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.” They rightly attributed value to what God had done and to what they had done. God is the one who owned that land and allowed the captivity out of that land. He had provided through Artaxerxes for His own people to go back to Jerusalem. So, don’t take credit. The one who does the work gets the credit, and don’t leave God out of the work you occupy because the very air we breathe comes from God. What we have is of God, so we need to be thankful.

On the other side of this, don’t miss the means. God used Artaxerxes and Nehemiah. God used David. Twice the Bible says that the songs they used to praise God were “according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.” These two kings had been long dead, yet they were the means by which some of these songs came. Nehemiah was the means by which the organization came. Artaxerxes was the means by which the money came, but the source in every case is God. So, don’t take credit, but at the same time, don’t miss the means.

Just because I thank God doesn’t mean I don’t need to extend gratitude to people that He has used. I was just thinking last night of how great a debtor I am. I really would be in a bad way were it not for a number of people who have helped me in peace times and critical times in my life. I don’t know where to begin except to say thank you, to thank them for allowing God to work through them. I am not disregarding God, but I am also not disregarding the means that God chooses. So don’t take credit, and don’t miss the means.

Also, don’t compare. The Bible tells us in a previous book that when the foundation was laid for a reconstructed temple, the old men cried and the young men cheered. Why was that? The old men knew enough to compare the new temple to the magnificent temple that Solomon had constructed, God’s temple.

I live in Middle Tennessee, which is to say that I live among some of the most affluent people in all of human history. I don’t feel that way, but the fact is in the tri-county area I live in there are poor people like there are everywhere, but I travel quite a bit, so I can see we are doing quite well in this area where I live.

The problem comes when I compare my car, my business, and whatever to the people I see on a weekly basis, I am comparing my circumstances to people who are doing as well as a group compared to any group that has ever lived. If I really wanted a better picture, I could compare myself to most people the world over who eat the same thing every day, don’t have a car, and don’t have a home. Both jealousy and pride are so often the results of comparison.

I am reading a little biography on Benjamin Franklin who famously set out to keep thirteen virtues. He admits he did not do so well. One of the things he struggled with was pride. He had a Quaker friend who told him he was proud. He hadn’t seen it until he was told, and then he saw it and said, “I can even be proud that I am so humble.” You can be proud no matter what you do, it seems. My point is not to despair, but to realize that comparing yourself leads to scorn, pride, or jealousy.

The one who does the work gets the credit, and when you read Nehemiah, it is not the story of a man, a group of people, or even a nation of people who were preserved. It is the story of the God of the universe.