“So Moses finished the work.” (Exodus 40:33) I came to the end of my reading in Exodus this morning. To fully appreciate those 5 words, you really need to read the 39 preceding chapters. The whole thing had been such an ordeal, drama from the time God called out to Moses from

the burning bush to the moment he “inspected all the work they had accomplished” in the building of the tabernacle. For starters, Moses wasn’t looking to lead anything but sheep to pasture. He was hiding when God found him. Moses was no volunteer. And even after God called him,
he insisted God find someone else. But the force of the divine call is hard to resist. The people he served nearly drove him nuts. He was supposed to lead a group of worshippers and what he mostly got was whiners. He’d lost his temper over & over. Even thrown the stone tablets
inscribed by the finger of God. Nope. Moses couldn’t say it had gone well. What the whole thing had been was WORK. Unrelenting, frustrating work so detailed that it had to match the divine instructions down to every clasp on endless yards of curtains. There had been some great
moments like the time the people were invited to contribute any personal possessions to the makings of the tabernacle furnishings. They had given so freely, Moses had to tell them to stop. There was that. But overall, what he’d done, what they’d all done, was WORK. Lo & behold,
they’d “finished the work.”

Ministry is work. Hard work. Sometimes extremely frustrating work. And most frustratingly of all, often you may feel like your work is not working. Eph 4:11-12 reads “And he himself (Christ) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers, for equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” All saints are called to ministry. And ministry is work. Sometimes we live to see some of our work come to fruition and be blessed by God and other times we don’t. Moses did. Stood right there at that
finished work and “The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” One way or the other, this is how it ends.
Our work is done and we see the glory of God. Moses got to see it before his death. But, should we get no glimpse whatsoever in this lifetime that our work in the name of Jesus actually worked, to be sure, we will see what Jesus built in the next. Christ IS building his church.
Our calling is to participate in what He is building. And it is WORK. We are not called to equip saints to be spectators & consumers. We are called to equip saints to be fellow workers.

So let’s work till the finish.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast,
immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Cor 15:58

Onward to the finish.

When the work is done,
we’ll see His glory and cry,
“Worthy!”

More from Beth Moore

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First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods

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“We don’t negotiate salaries” is a negotiation tactic.

Always. No, your company is not an exception.

A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.

Listen to Aditya


And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.

I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.

You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.

Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]