Praying God's Wisdom: What has God prepared for You to Do?

Image created in collaboration with ChatGpt depicting the upper room being
prepared for Jesus to observe the Passover

 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

 I so enjoyed looking into the language and background of our verse for today! I was most drawn to the phrase at the end where it talks about how God has prepared good works in advance for us to do. There are a lot of tools out there that can help you break down the original language of the Bible and see how different passages relate to each other. I’m particularly fond of the site, Blue Letter Bible, where you can click “Tools” on the left side of a verse and access at your fingertips a wealth of information. Through this tool today, and a few others, I was led on a journey through the New and the Old Testaments.

 To start with, the phrase “prepared in advance” comes from the Greek word proetoimazō which means, “to prepare beforehand in mind and purpose, i.e. to decree,” but it doesn’t stop there. The Topical Lexicon shares, “The verb… expresses purposeful, sovereign arranging on God’s part, ensuring that people and deeds are readied in advance for His redemptive design. It portrays deliberate planning rather than mere foreknowledge, highlighting God’s initiative and control over salvation history.” A “sovereign arranging,” and, “deliberate planning.” Jesus didn’t just set things in motion and expect us to figure it out, He put together a specific plan, He preordained specific things that we would get to be a part of. It’s not just that “somebody” has to do it, these are jobs that only we can do!

 I was intrigued that in the Strong’s listing for this word, proetoimazō, it referenced a similar word found in Mark 14:15, where Jesus is giving the disciples instructions about the preparation for His final, earthly Passover, “He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” To my surprise, the phrase in this verse that is being compared is not “Make preparations” but the one referring to the room being, “furnished and ready.” Yes, the disciples were to go make arrangements, but the room was already furnished and ready for its purpose. Just like the room, which served a vital, but humble role in the story of Jesus, God has prepared specific, vital, but likely equally humble good works in advance for us to take part in.

 Another verse referenced in the Strong’s listing is Isaiah 28:24. This verse is part of a larger passage, Isaiah 28:23-29, in which he lays out the process of growing and harvesting crops, emphasizing that each step has a time and purpose, and that they do not continue forever but move from one to the next. He also explains that each tool used in the process has a specific role and cannot be used for another, for example, the tools used in harvesting wheat (a sledge and threshing cart) cannot be used to harvest caraway or cumin. They each have their own special tools Likewise, the works that God prepared for us, must be done in the right timing for a season, not forever, and we are the special tools they were designed for. Our brother, our friend, our pastor cannot do them in our place. We were created with a purpose and a role to play in this world. The tasks before us were laid out far in advance, prepared for us. Just as the upper room was prepared for the disciples in Mark 14:15, these works, these acts, these assignments were prepared for us. All the disciples had to do was act on what was already in place, and likewise, all we have to do is be faithful to fulfill what God has already prepared for us.

 So, how do we know what we are supposed to do? How do we recognize these good works that God has prepared in advance for us? I think we do it the same way the disciples did in that passage in Mark. They were walking along together, living life, and Jesus stopped and pointed out to them something He wanted them to do, something that had already been prepared in advance that they were about to get to take part in. Just like the disciples in the Gospels, we need to be walking along together with Jesus as He shows us, “Look, here’s something I set up for you to be a part of.” It is in living in relationship with Him, by being constantly connected through prayer, being in His Word, surrounding ourselves in the fellowship of His Body, the local church, that we stay attuned to what He is doing around us, that we stay open to hearing from Him. As Henry Blackaby famously said, “Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.”

Here’s the Thing: I used to worry that I would miss it, that I would mess it up. As you’ve probably seen me write frequently, one of my greatest joys is in the truth that God is bigger than me, His ways are higher than my ways, and I can’t mess up what He has planned. When He has something for me to do, He’s going to show me, and it is my joy and privilege to take part in what He has prepared in advance for me to do!