The Right Tools

You know the principle of life that work goes better if you have the right tools. I have learned this from the standpoint of having the wrong tools and having the work go terribly. In the days of simpler cars, I once tried to change the fuel pump on my own. Just getting my hands in there to remove the old and put in the new was very tough for inexperienced me. I did not have the right tools. It truly aggravated me that I put it in backward and had to start over doubling the time of the job. It was not funny at the time, but when I think now of how covered with grease I was, I have to chuckle. I am just not a do-it-yourself kind of guy.

As we go through life, we learn what we can do, and our favorite way to do it. Sometimes we come up against a difficulty that requires us to get help from the outside. We often also encounter the need to ask for God’s help and discover ways and tools of a spiritual nature just when we need them so desperately. It is important to look for this help from God and make a lifestyle of depending on God with all we have got, as well as doing our best, in our strength and effort.

You will hear this story on Sunday: when the disciples were in the boat with Jesus on the Lake of Galilee and the windstorm arose. They undoubtedly applied all the tools of their experience. Five of them were seasoned fishermen. The storm proved more than they could survive, and they called out to Jesus, who stood commanded the storm to be still and settle to a peaceful calm. Jesus used it as a lesson that they have faith to exercise, connecting them to the all-powerful God. Knowing Jesus is aligning with the power of the Universe for things aligning with God’s will.

You will hear as well, this Sunday, about the contest between David and Goliath. The army of Saul, the King of Israel had tools of combat they were accustomed to using. When they needed a champion from their ranks to go up against the Philistines’ most foreboding warrior, the only one willing to face him was young David. This young man, a shepherd did not seek the tools of heavy armament—a shield, helmet, mail, and large sword. He only wanted his staff, a sling, and five smooth stones in a pouch.

All that equipment combined might not have weighed ten pounds. There was something else he had. A “tool” of a different kind. It was his absolute confidence in God and the conviction he must uphold the honor and glory of the Holy One before God’s enemies. That was what he needed: ten pounds of gear, and a heart of faith. With these, the huge Philistine soldier, Goliath, was toppled, and the enemy army fled. Just as he had defended his family’s literal flock of sheep against lions and bears in the field, now he had defended God’s flock. What looked like sure defeat, was turned to a day of deliverance by the might of God, and a servant willing to use alternative tools.

Your faith in God is powerful for tackling the things that come against you. All your honed skills learned in life will need to be applied. You can also practice using prayer, internalizing God’s word, worship, and fellowship as tools for the times ahead when you need everything available to make it. These will be the right tools for the job. When all looks impossible, you have God. And when in the end it is all too much you are overwhelmed, God has you.