God Works With Us

I have many tools in my barn. Sometimes I use one, sometimes another. Sometimes my tools simply wait because I do not need to do anything with them right then.

When I choose my hammer to drive nails into wood, I know that I can do that with it because driving nails is the purpose for which it was designed. You might say that my hammer is gifted at driving nails.

However, I do not always drive nails with my hammer. Sometimes I drive a post into the ground with it. Sometimes I need to remove a nail with it. Other times I may need to remove a dent, or to bend a steel bar.

My hammer is very well suited for each of those things, but when my project requires cutting a board, I do it with another tool. I am the one who decides what I will do with my hammer. My hammer participates, it’s involved, but I determine its specific role in the context of my larger project.

I think in many ways this is a useful analogy for the way Father employs our talents, skills, and aptitudes. He does things with us. We participate, but He determines our specific role in the context of His larger project.

Sometimes our focus on a particular role can get in the way. There are many different, yet related, ways Father may work with us. Only He knows what is consistent with His larger project.