Called to Create, Called to Depend, Called to Know - Exodus 31
Have you ever been in a season where you are doing all the right things, but you have no idea what God is doing?
You’re working. Serving. Parenting. Leading. Creating. Praying. Showing up. You’re doing what you believe God has asked you to do, but you can’t see how it all fits together.
It can feel a lot like The Karate Kid.
In the original 1984 movie, Daniel wants to learn karate from Mr. Miyagi. He wants to defend himself, win the girl, and become a better fighter. But instead of teaching him how to punch and kick, Mr. Miyagi gives him chores.
“Wax on. Wax off.”
Daniel paints fences. Sands floors. Waxs cars. Eventually, he becomes frustrated. He thought he was learning karate, but all he could see was a series of meaningless chores.
What Daniel didn't understand was that Mr. Miyagi was building something in him that he couldn't yet see.
Sometimes our relationship with God feels the same way.
We look at our lives and wonder, What are you doing, God?
Exodus 31 gives us a glimpse of God's work through a man named Bezalel. After chapters of instructions about the tabernacle, God finally begins identifying the people who will actually build it.
And what is striking is how God describes Bezalel:
“I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft.” — Exodus 31:3
God doesn't fill Bezalel with his Spirit so that he can become a priest or prophet. He fills him so that he can build.
That tells us something important about our gifts.
We Are Called to Create
Bezalel was a craftsman. He worked with gold, silver, bronze, gemstones, and wood. He was an artist and a builder.
And God cared about his work.
In fact, this is the first place in Scripture where someone is explicitly described as being filled with God's Spirit for the purpose of skilled craftsmanship.
Your gifts matter to God.
Your creativity matters to God.
Your ability to organize, build, design, lead, teach, sing, write, repair, encourage, cook, solve problems, work with people, or make something beautiful matters to God.
Our culture often tells us that our gifts exist primarily for our own success. We can easily fall into what we might call the gift trap.
On one side, we can idolize our gifts. Our activity becomes our identity.
I'm not just someone who plays basketball. I'm a basketball player.
I'm not just someone who leads. I'm a leader.
I'm not just someone who creates. I'm a creator.
Our gifts become so intertwined with our identity that when something happens to the gift—when we lose the job, get injured, fail, get overlooked, or someone else proves better than us—we don't just feel disappointed. We feel like we have lost ourselves.
But there is another side to the gift trap: despising our gifts.
We downplay what God has given us. We hide it. We assume that because something comes naturally to us, it isn't important. We don't develop it or offer it to God.
The answer isn't to idolize our gifts or despise them.
The answer is to steward them.
Bezalel didn't use his gifts to make a name for himself. He used them to build what God had commanded.
So here's a question worth asking:
Is God's resume on display in your life?
When people see the way you work, create, lead, parent, serve, or interact with others, can they see something of God?
The church isn't confined to a building. We don't stop being the people of God when we leave the church building on Sunday.
The Well Church should be visible Monday morning.
God's gifts are meant to be carried into the world.
We Are Called to Depend
But there's something else in Exodus 31 that we can easily miss.
God doesn't just give Bezalel gifts. He gives him someone else.
“I have also selected Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to be with him.” — Exodus 31:6
Bezalel wasn't designed to do the work alone.
Neither are we.
From the beginning of Scripture, God tells us that it isn't good for us to be alone. Throughout the biblical story, God works through people in relationship with other people.
Moses had Joshua.
Elijah had Elisha.
Paul had Timothy.
Naomi had Ruth.
David had Jonathan.
And Bezalel had Oholiab.
We are designed to depend.
That may sound strange in a culture that celebrates independence. We are constantly told to become self-sufficient, build our own platform, make our own way, and depend on no one.
But Scripture presents our limitations differently.
Our limitations are not mistakes. They are reminders of our design.
Why do we need sleep? Why can't we work constantly? Why can't one person possess every gift? Why do we need other people?
Because God didn't design us for independence.
He designed us for dependence.
And dependence can be difficult.
People are inconvenient. They are late. They don't always respond to texts. They don't always do things the way we would do them.
Technology can feel easier.
But we weren't created for artificial independence.
We were created for community.
A person can have thousands of followers and still have no one to call when they need help. We can have a massive digital network and still be profoundly alone.
God has given you people.
And God has given you limitations that require you to depend on those people.
This is also part of leadership. A good leader can manage talent. A great leader multiplies talent.
Bezalel wasn't simply given the ability to build. He was given someone to build with and teach.
God's work isn't just about what we accomplish. It's also about who we bring with us.
We Are Called to Know God
But there is something even deeper than creating and depending.
We are called to know God.
Before we work for God, serve God, or use our gifts for God, we are called to God himself.
That sounds basic, but it is incredibly easy to miss.
We can want the result without wanting the relationship.
We can want God's blessing without wanting God's presence.
We can want to know about God without actually knowing God.
That's why the story of the tabernacle matters so much.
God wasn't simply giving Israel a construction project. He was creating a place where he would dwell among his people.
The entire story is ultimately about God's presence.
And that is still what God wants.
He wants to dwell with his people.
He wants to know us.
The Creator of everything that exists wants to know you.
That is astonishing.
We can spend so much time trying to figure out what God is doing that we miss what God is inviting us into.
We want the result.
God wants the relationship.
Think again about Daniel and Mr
