Made for a purpose
Recently my husband and son ripped the old carpet out of the extra room which will be the new baby’s room. My husband decided to take off the baseboards and had a tool to do this called a pry bar. When he started he realized this tool was not going to work! These baseboards had been screwed into the steel framing of the house. He had to use his electric drill to unscrew them. The pry bar caused the first baseboard to crack in half. On the other hand, with the drill the baseboards came off quickly and efficiently.
Both tools are useful and made for a specific purpose. But one did a better job at removing the baseboards than the other. Does that mean one is less valuable or of lesser quality than the other? No, it just means one was better equipped for this specific job.
This is how it is with us too. Sometimes we try to fit into a certain job that we weren’t really designed to do. There are different reasons we may do this…to try to fit in, to try to be like someone else (if she can do it, I could do it better), because we don’t want to say no when asked, etc. We may be able to accomplish the task with difficulty, but someone else may have been able to do it more easily or with a better outcome.
Remember that we each have a purpose. It is important to figure out your specific purpose. If your purpose is cleaning the church building, then do that with all your heart. If your purpose is teaching a nursery class, do that with all your heart. If your purpose is welcoming new families to your church, do that with all your heart. If your purpose is visiting the shut ins, do that with all your heart.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23, 24
You may feel your purpose isn’t very glamorous or important. But remember that each part has value. We can’t all be doing the same purpose; so many task would be undone if we were all trying to do the same thing.
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?” I Corinthians 12:18, 19
Don’t try to make yourself fit into doing a job you have no business doing when you could do so much better filling your true purpose. You have a special purpose! Are you doing it?
What a beautiful reflection–and very practical as well! I think for each of us the ability to know and utilize our individual gifts is vitally important. And likewise, recognizing and accepting the fact that none of us has every gift is equally important! It’s a blessing to understand that I don’t have to know it all or do it all!
You have no idea how this is resinating with me today. Thank you sweet friend.
Love your words, Bethany!!
Amen to that Bethany. God has designed us all different to serve Him. Msy we stay focused on the tasks He has set before us…doing it with all of our heart.