Equipped or not, I signed up for Man Day.
I joined over 70 men gathered at our church to eat breakfast and worship before setting off to finish repairs and maintenance on homes in the community. It’s a day I’m glad I didn’t miss. The camaraderie, spending a whole day outside in perfect weather and enjoying the thread of serving that weaved through the whole day proved rich.
I almost let myself miss it.
You May Not Think So
I like to guard Saturdays with my family. It’s my favorite time. Plus, I’m not a rah-rah kind of guy and large group activities aren’t my favorite.
But the real reason, I have a longstanding feud with tools. I really enjoy the way they look when they are organized in the garage but I don’t necessarily like how they feel in my hand, especially when dealing with the millionth stripped bolt. Every triumph I’ve had with tools I’ve celebrated. Every frustration I’ve had with tools awakens the thought, “Why didn’t I ask somebody to teach me this years ago?” Needless to say, I’ve grown very fond of YouTube instructional videos.
I joked with someone the night before how I was going to bring my Swiss army style all-purpose pocket tool because that was the only tool I felt comfortable with.
The next morning, when I found out my team’s marching orders to paint a house, I breathed easy knowing nobody would depend on me to make compound cuts on a miter saw.
So, paint we did. Getting to know the guys on my team a little better, it became obvious, each one could go number one in a Man Day draft for tool expertise.
This was the A-Team. You know, the type of guys with the tools perfectly arranged in their garage and with knowledge of every nut and bolt they own? Each of them could host their own YouTube fix-it channel. Not only did they know what to do, they knew what to do with ease. But what happens when we can’t rely on our own experience?
God Knows So
Our team knocked out the mission and had the added bonus of praying with the homeowner before we left, adding another layer of value to the day. With a painted house behind us, we gathered again at our church for dinner, worship, testimony and reflection.
Thinking over the day, the all-purpose tool came to mind. Before the day started I decided to bring along the small tool with the thought that I could pull it out as a joke later with all the tool warriors present.
However, during the day, when our group realized a tube of caulking needed opening, nobody had a sharp knife or scissors. Guess who pulled the tool for the job and snipped off the end of that caulk?
My lesson, God can use anyone at anytime for any purpose if in His will. We just need to show up.
God equipped Noah, Moses, Rahab, Ruth, David, Paul and many others. He can equip you. Don’t let yourself miss the plans He has for you because you don’t feel prepared. Breathe easy. If it is His will to use you as the tool for the task, His mighty hands are definitely capable.
God can use anyone at anytime for any purpose if in His will. We just need to show up.
Helpful Scripture
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:10-13
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. – Hebrews 13:20-21
