Acts 6:8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

Stephen is an excellent example of how God will expand the “job description” of someone who is totally dedicated to Him. He had been chosen as one of the first deacons and given responsibility for what we might call the mechanics of the Church, the smooth and equitable functioning of the social welfare program. However, the next time his name comes up, in this verse, we find he is doing “great wonders and miraculous signs.” That sounds like a promotion to me! He was obviously faithful in the first task he was given, so God moved him “up the ladder” so to speak. That fits perfectly with Jesus’ words in the famous Parable of the Talents: “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” (Matthew 25:21) That might sound attractive, humanly speaking, but we need to remember that Stephen’s next “promotion” was to Martyr! We have trouble accepting that as a promotion, but in God’s kingdom it genuinely was. It is worth noting that there is nothing negative recorded about Stephen. He was a superb role model, and it got him stoned to death. However, his ultimate reward made that seem like no more than a blip, a bump in the road, so to speak. His perspective made him fully faithful in things of this life, but kept his values and his goals firmly anchored in eternity.

I honestly haven’t thought about Stephen all that much, but he is certainly a worthy role model. People have talked about my faithfulness in being in Omura for 42 years, but I’ll leave the evaluation of that to my Lord. I haven’t done “great wonders and miraculous signs,” but I have interacted with lots of people and communicated the Gospel in a variety of ways. I am at an inflexion point in my life, with retirement from secular teaching coming up in a few months, and possibilities appearing for a broader ministry, but my future is truly known only to God. The probability of martyrdom seems slim, but I am open to whatever the Lord has planned. What is clear is that I’m not to be so focused on what might be coming that I fail to discharge faithfully the tasks God has for me right now. Actually, there are a few things that I have been hanging back from, and that’s not good. I need to be fully involved in “waiting tables,” if that’s what the Lord has for me in the moment.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for yesterday and all it held. I have another day today with nothing written on my schedule, but that’s only from my viewpoint. Help me recognize Your schedule for me and follow it to the letter, so that Your purposes may be accomplished in Your timing for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!