A Meeting of the Tools

Acts 1:8  (New International Version)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Here is a story from a workshop near you of a group of tools who live in a toolbox belonging to a carpenter. One day, the tools had a meeting. You see, they have been having some problems getting along with one another. They have been complaining about each other, and each one of them thinks that the others are not doing their jobs very well.

Brother Hammer stood up… "Well, first of all, I want to complain about Brother Drill and his family. I don’t see what is so important about their job. They are noisy, always going around in circles and to me, brother Drill is extremely booooorrrrinnng!"

Brother Drill quickly spoke up…"Yes, I know we have a reputation of going around in circles but at least we are not like Brother Pencil. He gets on everybody’s nerves. He is so small that he often can’t be found when he’s needed. And when he is found, he is so blunt at times that he makes such a bad impression. He needs to be sharpened up a bit around here if he expects to be of any use."

Little Brother Pencil spoke up…"Alright, alright…I am a little blunt at times…but it’s only because I’ve spent too long in service. At least I’m not like Brother Sandpaper. He’s so rough…I can’t stand being beside him. He just rubs me the wrong way!"

That remark made Brother Sandpaper really angry. “Hey, what about Brother Ruler? He makes me mad by always measuring others by his standards, as though he is the only one right around here."

Soon, everyone was shouting at each other. Some were even ready to leave the toolbox when…who should open the toolbox but their master…the carpenter. He had come to perform his work…to build a house. He pulled out the tools and started using each one of them: hammer, screwdriver, drill, sandpaper, ruler…every single one was used to do different things and to build different parts of the house. The tools then realized their foolishness. The carpenter has use for each one of them; there is not one that is more important or more useful. Big or small…the carpenter needed all to build his house.

Let us imagine that the whole church is a toolbox…we are the tools and God is the carpenter. What kind of tools can you be? Maybe you are a little pencil…writing a note of encouragement. Maybe you are a hammer because when you talk, it knocks some sense into the heads around you. Maybe you are a drill…when you tell a story…it reaches deep, deep down into the hearts.  Maybe you are a ruler… always showing  the right way to follow God.

You see, we all have different roles to play in building God’s kingdom. What if there is a tool that doesn’t want to be used? He’s quite happy just lying there in the box. Do you think the carpenter is happy with him? No, because he is not doing his job, not pulling his weight…

Everyone has to do their part, whether we are big or small, young or old, everyone has a different but important role to play. Just like the tools in the toolbox!

Dear Lord please use me today. Help me not just lay in the toolbox and be useless but help me be the tool that You have designed me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.