God’s Work Done God’s Way

As a book lover, my trip to Trinity College in Dublin was the highlight of my time there.
There among the cobbled stones, I went back to the 18th century.
That is when the magnificent Old Library building was constructed.
Inside that building is housed the Book of Kells, a 9th century Gospel manuscript.

The manuscript contains the four Gospels in Latin, written on vellum calfskin.
It is written in a bold and expert version of script known as “insular majuscule.”
After a Viking raid on the island of Iona in 806, monks took refuge in a monastery.
This is where the Book of Kells was written in all its extravagance and complexity.

The main chamber of the Old Library was built between 1712 and 1732.
In 1801 the Library was given a special privilege.
It had the right to claim a copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland.
By the 1850’s the shelves were completely filled.

The main chamber room is 213 feet (65 meters) in length.
Floor to ceiling bookshelves are filled with 200,000 books.
In 1860, the roof had to be raised to construct barrel-vaulted ceiling in the upper gallery.
When you walk into the room your senses come alive with the sights and the smells.

Wooden ladders extend high above the floor to reach the top shelves.
The public cannot touch the books nor climb the many ladders.
But how I wanted to!
How I wanted to be left alone in that room, able to peruse the volumes found there.

Coming home on the plane from Ireland, I finished a book that I was reading.
I decided to watch a movie.
I chose, All The President’s Men, the story of the uncovering of the Watergate break-in.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters, broke the story.

I had seen the movie before, but this time many thoughts struck me.
Mainly, the great lengths to which the news reporters went in order to report the truth.
They checked and double-checked their facts.
They found other sources to corroborate those facts before the story went to print.

I watched scene after scene that showed the reporters surrounded by books.
Telephone books, archival newspapers, and manila folders containing records.
I watched as they thumbed through Rolodex files to find a phone number.
I sat amazed at the two-fingered pecking on their typewriter keyboard.

That time is not so far away in my memory.
The days before the Internet when methodical, painstaking research took place.
The notes could be written on napkins or matchbooks, like Bernstein had done.
Or they could be scribbled in your own hand with arrows and doodles, circles, and stars.

You had your own unique system of gathering information.
Slower, to be sure, but worth the work and effort it took to secure it.
Otherwise, places like the Old Library at Trinity College would be a ho-hum experience.
Since over 500,000 people visit each year, people are still interested in books.

When I think of the Book of Kells, I pause.
I think about the great length to which these monks went to preserve the Gospel.
Under attack, they thought more about preserving Truth than their own comfort.
We have access to their painstaking work and it must change us.

Days before Internet, card catalogs, or typewriters, a group of monks went to work.
With elaborate calligraphy and illustrations, they preserved Truth.
Single minded in their task, they produced something for the generations.
A God-ordained task with a God-supplied skill.

Isn’t that how anything is done for Him?
On our own, we could not even begin the task.
On our own, we would lose our focus or make it about us in some way.
God’s work done God’s way produces God-sized results.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” They called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard.” (Acts 4:13-20)

They took note that these men had been with Jesus.
That is the key.
In our own strength, we would cower in a corner.
In our own strength, saving our own life would be paramount.

In Him, and because of Him, we accomplish mighty things in His name.
We set out to preserve Truth amid the world’s lies.
We purpose to be a Light amid the world’s darkness.
We press on and roofs are raised, Truth is preserved, people are saved.

All according to God’s plan and God’s design.
We are merely the instruments He uses for His Glory.
What amazing things He does!
How incredibly humbling it is to think that He chooses to use us.