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The Tools
When I was a young boy, I would often watch my father perform repairs around the house. Sometimes, he would make repairs to the family car. Sometimes, he would make minor repairs to the structure of our house. My father had a toolbox, where he would keep his tools, with this toolbox brimming with wrenches of varying sizes, screwdrivers of varying dimensions, hammers of various shapes, sockets of differing circumferences, and a multitude of other tools.
Whenever I believed that my father could not successfully complete a repair without my supervision, I would stand and watch him work. As a means of ascertaining whether he knew what he was doing, I would often casually ask, “Whatcha doing?” Occasionally, and usually after I had asked, “Whatcha doing?”, several times, my father would direct me, “Go get a regular screwdriver, the big one, with the black handle.” I would then embark on the journey to my father’s toolbox, locate the right screwdriver, and then hurry back to my father with the screwdriver, in order for him to complete the repair. After completing the repairs, I would then watch my father carefully clean the tools and put them back into the toolbox.
Tools With a Purpose
In the philosophical pondering of a young boy, I would ask my father, “What’s this tool for?” My father would then patiently explain the function of the tool. Continuing my interrogation, I would question my father, “But, I never see you use it.” My father would then express the philosophy of all tool-admirers, “You never know when you might need this tool.” As I would gaze into my father’s toolbox, noting that he appeared to have many tools of the same design, I would question my father, “How come you have so many screwdrivers?” My father would calmly answer, “You can never have too many tools.” To someone who has an appreciation for tools, it made perfect sense to have every imaginable tool, in the anticipation of undertaking a future job, where a particular tool might be needed.
In all my years of watching my father use varying tools to complete a multitude of tasks, I never recall a single incident where my father seemed to be at a loss for what tool was needed to complete a task. If a task required a tool that my father didn’t possess, then a trip to the hardware store was made, in order to acquire the necessary tool.
In moments of doubt, Christians may often express feelings of uncertainty by asking, “What is God’s purpose for my life?”
Molding Tools
Christians are as tools in my father’s toolbox, as they come in varying shapes, sizes, colors, and functions. Like the craftsmen that designed the tools of my father, God designs and molds Christians into specific tools for specific purposes.
God molds the lives of those who would become missionaries.
God molds the lives of those who would become ministers.
God molds the lives of those who would become parents; raising
God molds the lives of those who would become teachers.
God molds the lives of those who would simply praise and worship Him.
God has allowed events to unfold in each Christian’s life, in order for that Christian to be molded into a specific tool: Christians are molded to fulfill specific purposes. Both the sorrows and joys that come into a Christian’s life serve to mold them into a tool of God. In considering what purpose God has molded us, Romans 8:28 encourages:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The Right Tool for the Job
My father would never consider using a screwdriver to pound a nail into a board. Likewise, my father would never attempt to use a hammer to remove a screw from a board. No, the hammer in my father’s toolbox had been designed with the purpose of pounding nails into boards.
If tools could think, then perhaps a screwdriver might lay in the toolbox and wish it was a hammer, because the hammer is used more often. If tools could think, then perhaps the hammer might lay in the toolbox and wish it was a screwdriver, because a screwdriver is capable of more precise tasks.
As tools laying in a toolbox, some Christians may often wish that they were singers, because singers stir the souls of listeners. Christian singers may often wish that they were ministers, because ministers preach the word of God. Other Christians may feel as though they have no purpose, because they feel that they have never been used for the glory of God.
In the Hands of the Master
Like the tools used by my father, Christians only become useful when they are held in the hand of God, wielding them as tools of righteousness. As a screwdriver does not decide the time when it is to be used, a Christian isn’t always aware when they are being used for God. As John 4:37 relates:
“One soweth, and another reapeth.”
When Christians feel as though they aren’t meeting their “purpose” in life, they neglect the possibility that the time has not yet come for God to use them. My father did not use every tool in his toolbox for every single task. Years would go by, until one day, when a task required a specific tool, my father would then walk to his toolbox and select the only tool that could perform the task. Likewise, God alone knows when a specific Christian is needed to perform a specific purpose.
Patience?
As a Christian’s patience may wane and they do not feel that they are “fulfilling” their purpose in this life, then it is important to remember what God actually requires of His children, with a purpose either realized or unseen. As Deuteronomy 10:12-13 encourages:
“What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”
If a Christian accepts the molding of God upon their life, in anticipation of fulfilling His perfect will, then the Christian becomes a valued tool of God. As a screwdriver doesn’t lay in the toolbox pondering its purpose, Christians have no reason to spend their lives wondering about their purpose. If a Christian is responsive to God’s prompting, then their purpose will be manifested, when God reaches into His toolbox of Christians.
Confidence
As I had confidence that my father knew what he was doing, have faith that when God reaches into His toolbox and summons you forth, that His purpose for your life will be fulfilled.
Copyright 2002 by Bruce Durbin
