The Right Tools

Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. George Herbert

When we were kids we had twenty wooded acres behind our house.  My brother and I would spend hours in those woods searching for adventure.

I am sort of a tomboy but I am also a girlie-girl.  Our family had three girls and one boy so my brother didn’t get another brother.  He got me.  The most likely reason for this was probably because I was the closest in age to him and he could talk me into most things.  I mean if he could talk me into riding backwards on a horse, it was easy to convince me we could build a fort with just an ax and rope.

One summer we decided to build a fort.  We had grand ideas about what the fort would look like when we finished it and how we could hold off the enemy in our completed fort.  The problem was instead of starting small we thought big so our architectural image of what we were building didn’t match the tools we were using.

You know how it goes.  You start with such enthusiasm.  You chop down a couple of trees and you feel empowered.  Then you start cutting notches in the trees with the ax so that you can stack the trees for the walls.  I think my brother got the short end of the stick because I was no lumberjack.  I was skinny and couldn’t use the ax for long before I wore out.  I think we worked on the fort for several weeks before we decided our project was too big for the two of us. 

This long ago memory reminded me of the tools we have at our disposal for God’s purposes.  God’s tools are simple and they don’t look like they would be extremely powerful.  We often underestimate God’s power through the Holy Spirit in us.  One of the best tools he provides is the Bible.  The book that has sold more than any other book is a powerful tool.  It doesn’t require electricity because its power comes from God. When Jesus died God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to give us His power.  The problem is we sometimes abandon His tools because we get tired or we see something in the world that captures our attention so we move on.  If we take the tools He provides and use them for His glory amazing things will happen.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I was thinking of that long ago time when we tried to build a fort with the wrong tools.  We soon grew tired and then gave up to pursue something else.  I want to be different in my Christian life.  Thank you for the tools You provide.  If I use these tools properly, there is no end to the things I can do in Your Name for Your glory.       

Scripture: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.  John 14:23-28