Wrong Tool For The Job
Last week was Fall break for many American schools. For me, that meant a few days off tackling to-do lists and knocking out the things that don’t get prioritized during a normal work week. One item on my Wunderlist To-Do list was “Install master bath towel hooks.” It sounded simple enough, so simple in fact, that I opted to add tackling the guest bathroom and installing hand towel holders to the list as well. No problem!
Our master bathroom is a beautiful, large open space that is full of gorgeous marble—everywhere. Marble floors, marble countertops, marble backsplash, and even marble walls. As I looked at the solid marble wall that needed a hand towel holder and two shower towel hooks, I saw a potential problem: six holes needed to be drilled in this solid, hard, yet fragile surface.
If you’ve never attempted to drill a hole in solid marble, please know it requires a bit of care, the right approach, and absolutely the right tools. Your typical drill bit, drill, and approach would be like using a hammer to screw in a nail. Can you hammer in a screw? Yes, yes you can. But it won’t work well, and drilling a hole in marble with a regular bit won't work well either. So, what do you need to drill into marble? You need the right diamond-tipped drill bits, a water source to cool the bits, and you need a guide to hold the bit into place. If you don't have these tools you will spend a lot of unnecessary time, require brute force, more than likely break tools, possibly damage your expensive marble, and end up very frustrated.
The wrong-tool-for-the-job-thinking should also apply to other areas of our lives and leadership. As I used the wrong drill bit with extreme force to drill into the marble slab, eventually breaking the bit, I saw similarities to areas where I am outside of God's giftings on my life. Areas I can absolutely bring energy to and areas I can focus on—but am I the right tool for the job?
To navigate this with the best results, we must understand first what our gifts, strengths, and talents are. It all starts with self-awareness! Then beyond self-awareness, we must be willing to put our realizations into action. We must recognize that if our mom or dad told us growing up that we could be anything we wanted to be...they were wrong, misinformed, or just lying. We cannot be anything we want to be, but we can be anything God desires and wills us to be, and we should be focused on being the absolute best version of that!
Paul talked about this in Romans 12:
“...I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.”
He also shared this with the Corinthians:
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.”
Paul has some outstanding words for us! He is saying don’t be the wrong tool for the job!
Check this out:
Warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are.
Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. You ain’t all that, nor am I. We must check our pride at the door and get honest with ourselves.
God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
Our gifts are a blessing from God, we should know what they are and use them. Often times, it takes outside counsel and assistance to really discover our gifts and strengths.
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
USE IT! This is the parable of the talents; we have God-given gifts and talents, and we are going to be held accountable for using them. Also, check out the second part of this verse “with as much faith as God has given you.” Paul did not say with as much faith as He has given your coworker, or your spouse, or your ever-blessed and talented best friend. No, with what you have been given. In the parable of the talents, God still produced a 100% return on investment with the two who invested their gifts. 5 turned into 10, and 2 turned into 4. Same return on investment.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
You are made in the image of the creator of the universe.
You are greatly loved.
You are a masterful work of art.
You are redeemed and set free through Christ.
You have a purpose and a calling!