Mt Victoria panorama
In Exodus 35:30 - 36:7 we see the work of the Spirit of God in inspiring Bezalel and Oholiab with abilities to construct the sanctuary of the tabernacle. Not only that but they are gifted with the ability to teach others.
Such a task required all the Israelites to donate the required precious materials to the project, quite a big ask as they continued to journey in the wilderness. They took to this task with such gusto that Moses had to get them to stop giving stuff; 'And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.' (Ex 35:6-7)
Many churches have constrained budgets in this season, with a perfect storm of post-covid malaise, cost of living crisis and various other dramas. We all seem to struggle to staff volunteer ministries and rosters and attendance is generally patchy.
Yet the scripture in Exodus testifies that by the Spirit of God, various people are enabled for the mission and other people are encouraged to give, still others are trained to join the work. There is an overflow of resources to the point that Moses has to tell the givers to stop. There was more than enough.
In these times of disruptive change and discontinuity for the churches, it would be easy to become disheartened. However perhaps we should rather be lifted up to faith and belief by the story from Exodus 35, an example of how God enables and empowers the people to generously fulfill their mission through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God is able, and his provision is more than enough.