The Right Tool for the Right Job

            As some of you may know I love working on projects around the house and really like to make things with my hands.  But it seems with each new project I find it would be easier to complete if I had a more specialized tool.  Recently I tiled a tabletop and found that the grout float I was using was just falling apart or clogging up.  After I completed the project I discovered that I was using the wrong tool for the job, it was for un-sanded grout and I was using sanded.  I basically wore it out by sanding it down and it did not last like it should have.

            Using the right tools and using them correctly makes all the difference in the world, and sometimes using the wrong tool just destroys the tool.  I have broken several screw drivers using them as pry bars, and several shovels using them to pry big rocks out of the ground, notice a pattern (Maybe I need some pry bars?).  These tools where not the right tools for the job, and in the end just caused me stress and cost me money. 

            In the church it is the same way so few people take the time to find out what their gifts are.  Then often times we just fill spots with the most willing person.  Then end result is that we burn people out or just destroy them and they disappear from our Churches. The pressure to perform in unnatural ways can be just as destructive to a person as it is a using a wrench like a hammer.  

            So, what do we do?  Just not serve?  Of course not we have to try a few things out, get our feet wet.  We need to pray that God directs us to where we are gifted to serve.  As difficult as it is to complete a project without the required tools or the wrong tools, the church does not function unless everyone is doing what only they can do.  What kind of tool are you?  How are you unique?  What gifts and passions do you have?

My challenge:

 Read 1 Corinthians 12 which is followed by 13 the love chapter Paul ties together love and understanding your place in the Body! Also Ephesians 4

Then ask God how he wants to use you?

Check your passions what things really grab your attention and get you exited?

If you have kids, Watch “A Snoodle’s Tale”  by Veggie Tales.  It is a great starter to begin a conversation about what God has made you to do!