Becoming more than just another tool in the tool shed

Picture yourself entering into you’re a large tool shed in the backyard gentlemen, you step inside and the smell of rust and sweat wafers out into the sunlight. You take a moment as your eyes adjust to the darkness within and you reach for the lone light bulb dangling from a rope in the middle of the shed. As the aged bulb flutters on and off as the filament heats up, your eyes adjust to the dimly lit shed.

Within this old shed there are tools, tools on the walls hanging from pegs, tools leaning in all directions against the walls where they were left in a hurry. There are still more tools that have fallen off the aged hooks that lie on the floor in disarray.

You search for the right tool that you need for the pressing job that is still on you honey-do-list. In the dim light, even as the bulb flickers above it is still difficult to see every part of the shed. You are forced to trust your instincts and remember back to the last time you used that tool where you may have put it as you fumble around in the darkness, tripping over the scattered tools on the floor.

Finally you find the tool for the job, you breathe a sigh of relief and frustration at the mess you have left the old shed. You think to yourself that you really need to clean this mess up, but again it is left for another day.

Imagine if you were the tool in that dark musty shed, hanging about on the wall until someone needed you, better yet what if God needed you?

“I was standing today in the dark tool shed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch-black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it.” – C.S. Lewis

Rather than the tools (us) hanging about in disarray, when God enters his tool shed and has a specific job in mind. He knows where every tool is, every place that they rest and every job they will serve, long before entering the tool-shed.

We many times will gather numerous tools, many that are unneeded for a job that we have to do. How many times have you grabbed both a Phillips head and a flat head screwdriver because you were not sure what you would need for the job?

However we have been chosen specifically before we were born even, for the jobs that we would serve upon this earth. Many of us try to fit ourselves into the wrong toolbox and go to the wrong job site because we think we know best.

Picture a world where instead of us choosing God, He chooses you? We no longer are longing for our purpose as it was written out in great detail in the blueprints long before we became the rusty tool hanging on the wall.

Remember … He chose you!

So no matter whether you are flipping burgers at the nearby fast food restaurant or are the janitor at the local school, or the CEO of a large corporation, your path has been chosen.

We need to quit trying to take our hammers and nails to jobs that simply need a little touch up paint. Give your life to the path that has been determined for rather than always forcing your way through life. Try focusing on helping others and rebuild where necessary, repair if needed otherwise simply maintain ourselves in the lives of others. We will find ourselves being the shiny new tool that glimmers in the dim light, not from lack of use but renewed strength through service.

“Embrace who you are. You have been given every tool, every talent, and every trait you need to realize your destiny. You can’t be everything to everyone. All you can be is YOU. And that is enough. Take criticism from the crowd as a compliment. If you were bored, or plain, or average, the critics would be silent.” – Kemmy Nola 

So men, will you continue to try to pick the right tool from the tool shed only to cause frustration and disappointment or will you accept that the tool has already been chosen and that tool is you?

What experiences do you have  allowing yourself to be chosen?

“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

Blessings,

CJ