Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.  Matthew 20:16 (The Message)

This scripture comes at the end of the parable of Jesus where he compares God’s kingdom to an estate manager who hired workers for his vineyard. Early in the morning, the manager found some people to hire for work. After some negotiations, everyone settled on a dollar a day. These guys went out and started working.

Four more times during the day, the manager hired people to help out, telling them that they would be paid a fair wage. When the day was over and everyone went to the manager to get their wages, they were surprised. The manager paid everyone a dollar for the day’s wages. Those who had worked all day were a little miffed because they reasoned that they had put in more work than those who had been hired later in the day - so they should be paid more.  

The manager explained that those who were hired first had agreed on the wage. He fulfilled his contract with them. Those who were hired later didn’t have a contract so he could pay them whatever he wanted. It was his money after all, and he could do whatever he wanted with it.

When we apply for a job, we go to an interview with expectations. We’ll do this and this and this in exchange for that and that and that. The problem is that we don’t always hear the full story. We may receive that and that and that, but we shouldn’t expect that everyone is making the same exchange of work for pay. The person who owns the money gets to choose how it is paid out and some people may get more money for what we perceive as less work.

God holds the checkbook, and he will distribute his mercy and grace as he will. He knows each of us and he knows what he’s asking of each of us. The thing is that we can’t see into the hearts of other people. Something that we find easy to do may be extremely difficult for others. Some of us are better at customer service than others so we get sent to the Human Resources department. Some of us are better at tech stuff and we get sent to the Informational Technology department.

We are each created for a purpose – whether we know that purpose or not. God tailors his requests of us to fit those aspects that he feels need strengthening or that need to be shared with others. Sometimes he sends us to people who need our special gifts.

However we are used in God’s kingdom, we can trust that it will fit us beautifully. We may learn new skills and we may discover parts of ourselves that we didn’t realize we had. It will be worth the experience!

Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She has recently published her first book, Jessie’s Corner: Something To Think About, which is now available for purchase. Based on several lesser-known scriptures from the Bible, this is a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.