Do you have an impossible job?

Last night a woman in our church told how God had just given her success on a large, important project at work.

She is a website architect working for a big downtown bank that hired her specifically to upgrade their site’s interface for those with disabilities.

One impossible job

But everyone with whom she directly worked told her: You can’t do this. You will fail. You don’t have the necessary intelligence for this.

Indeed, she agreed. She didn’t know how to do it.

No one knew how to do what the bank was asking. One technician told her he could not do in a year even part of what the company was asking to be done in six months. These were uncharted waters.

She feared what would happen if she failed. That she would lose her job and pay. That she would have to move away.

Unceasing prayer

So she called out to God. All day long, every day, she prayed fervently over every detail, every web page, every line of code. She literally wept and prayed. She felt small and vulnerable.

But she also had fierce conviction that God was great enough to help her with an impossible job. She kept crying out to God day after day, planning functionalities, writing code, telling her team of developers what to do. She worked hard. Day after day she received wisdom for one piece of the project after another. Every step and idea was a discovery.

And so, week after week, one piece, one page, one functionality of the website after another came together. Months passed and the progress continued. The hand of God was upon her, and he blessed her entire team.

Great success

With the deadline approaching they were ready to release their work. They were ready to go live with approximately eighty new web pages of cutting edge technology.

On the day of release they discovered one minor problem. Just one easily fixed bug. But everything else worked flawlessly.

Last night our website architect told this story and enthusiastically gave God all the glory.

Divine wisdom for impossible jobs

As she spoke, a Scripture came to my mind, and when she finished I read it.

The story is about a young man whom a pagan king recruited to serve in his court. For three years he received training in the language, literature, and wisdom of that culture. At the end of that period, he Daniel and three Hebrew friends were brought before the king for a final exam.

“And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom” (Daniel 1:20).

Proverbs 2:6 says, “The LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

2 Timothy 2:7 says, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

Do you need to be a pastor to know God and his ways, to experience God working at your right hand?

No, you just need to have work to do.  You need to sense your need of God’s help, to know that you can’t do anything apart from him. And you need to cry out to him with faith continually. To work hard. And then watch God work. In the end you will give him glory.