Vessels of Grace

NOTE: This is a written source for a couple of short devotions I delivered on March 4 and 11, 2025.

What does administer mean? It could mean to manage, be responsible for, or serve. It is a word that shows up in the 1988 NIV translation of 1 Peter 4:10. In other translations, the word is employ or serve. Consider 1 Peter 4:10 (NASB):

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God.

Elsewhere, I have focused on how the multifaceted trials we face are met with the multifaceted grace of God, the same Greek word used in 1 Peter for multifaceted in reference to trials and God's grace.

Yet, I want to focus on the word employ. The Greek word for employ is rooted in the word diakonos (διακονος), which means servant, and the word from which we get our word deacon.

It's also worth considering the word stewards. The Greek word is oikinomoi (οικινομοι). It is the the word from which we get economy and comes from two words: oikos (οικος) meaning "house" and nomos (νομος) meaning "law" or "management" (Think of Deuteronomy which comes from the Green meaning "second law"). So, we have stewards and house management.

Whether or not you care about the Greek, it is clear we are called to be participants in the process of administering God's grace. God's grace is available, but we aren't just to sit around waiting for it to happen. Look at the verse. Those in Christ have gifts. Are you in Christ? If so, you have a gift He has given you to employ to serve others as a good steward of what He has given to you. Walking in the Spirit, we are to be vessels through which God works. That does not happen when we sit around. You may be the very tool God chooses to use to show His grace to someone facing a trial! Are you open to it?

In Nehemiah 4, Jews were rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah. They faced mockery, persecution and threats. And what was Nehemiah's response. Look at Nehemiah 4:4 (NASB):

Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.

He prayed and even gave vengeance over to God (for it is God's). It's always good to start with prayer. However, we sometimes stop there or use it as an excuse to not participate. Not only did Nehemiah pray, but the Jews built. Consider Nehemiah 4:6 (NASB):

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

The wall would not have been built if they sat there after prayer. They worked. And they did so with all there heart like Colossians 3:23-24 (NASB) reminds us:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Yet, more trials came as they worked on the wall in Nehemiah 4:7-9 (NASB):

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Again notice the response. They prayed and kept watch. They didn't stop at prayer. They were vessels available to what God would have them do. And God provided His grace through their actions.

In some situations, all you can do is pray, but don't miss the point. Are you a vessel of grace for what God would have you do? Think about times you've been in trial and how others in the Body of Christ have come alongside of you as sources of God's grace. Maybe they offered a listening ear, a word of encouragement, a shoulder to help with a burden, or a mind set to work to get things done in spite of challenges. Are you being called to such things? God offers His grace to you, but also through you. We are called to be vessels to receive His grace and walk in the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit and administer His grace.

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