The Right Tool at the Right Time

There is a maxim among any people who use tools. The right tool at the right time is priceless.

I am building a giant pergola (arbor) for a client. God has blessed me with skill I really don't have and I'm having a good time. Then it comes time to cut the ends of the rafters in fancy corbel cuts. I whip out my Dad's trusty 30 year old miniature saw and fail...and try again and fail again...and try again and fail again. It's just the wrong tool and to continue to use it would spoil the project and probably injure me.

So after prayer, I went and bought the right tool. I can't afford it, but I have to have it to get the job done correctly and safely. The next four hours went smoothly and joyfully. The right tool at the right time is priceless.

Last week I had to help my partner (and mentor) through a difficult problem in a kitchen remodel. He used me infrequently and I had to stand around waiting quite a bit in between helps. But I did not feel badly not helping all the time: I was the right tool at the right time when he needed me.

Today I hope you find an opportunity to be the right tool at the right time for someone. The rewards for that person are fantastic and your reward in heaven is sure:

Gal 6:2 NKJV - Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Be the right tool,
Jack

Today I am a ...

What am I today, God?

He answers...
"Today you are a handyman."

What will I be tomorrow, God?
"It's not for you to know tomorrow, Jack."

But God, I am an Operations Manager, capable of leading people and caring for them in business.
"Yes you have done these things, but today you are a handyman."

But God, I've got living expenses and a mortgage and children and a father-in-law and my Debbie and health care bills and..."
"Yes, but today you are a handyman."

But God, things don't look so good prospect wise for a job in my old line of work. I keep looking every day and just tonight I submitted three more resumes and ...
"True, but today I have called you to do certain things for me. And I want you to be a good steward with what I've given you so I can give you more next time. So. Today you are a handyman."

But God I need more tools and more skills and more knowledge to be a good handyman for you today!
"[Mat 6:33 NKJV] - ...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

God?
"Yes?"

Can I still call myself an Operations Manager?
"Yes, Jack. But today..."

I know God, I know...today I am a handyman!
"You got it. Now go be a good handyman."

Thank you, God! Thank you for not forgetting me and my family. Thank you.

Jack

Promises, promises

Did Life ever promise me it'd be a bed of roses? Nope. It promised to be full of rose thorns instead. At least that's what the Bible teaches me. Does Life owe me for the hand I've been dealt? Nope. Not according to God for He controls all things, not "Life". Did Life promise me it'd be fair and considerate of my wife and children and me? Nope, nope, nope. It promised that it would be impartial in it's pain, hitting sinners and saved alike with it's remorseless and uncompassionate goings-on in it's sin-stained brokenness.

I don't see any promises issued by Life that I care to stand around waiting for.

Did God promise He'd never leave me nor forsake me? Yes! Did God promise to be my comforter and healer? Yes! Did God promise that even though I cannot understand His ways, His ways are perfect? YES!

So God, I choose your promises in this broken world of sickness, surgeries, theft, car problems, murder and pain. Please help me remember what I have that is good: my wife, children, family, food and a roof.

Please help me remember that Life owes me nothing and that I owe you everything.

Rom 12:1 NKJV - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Jack

An Exceptional Woman

I am married to an exceptional woman. Yesterday she culminated this rotten year by putting aside 17 months of craziness to stand in front of 800 people at the American Cancer Society "Strides" kick-off.

I watched Debbie speak and cry and laugh and I watched 800 people do the same. Afterwards people came to her and stood in line to be comforted and to offer comfort.

Her presence on stage filled people with hope and her testimony about miracles in dark times inspired so many.

In the written program at each table, there were many speakers listed, many of them with big fancy titles and a string of letters after their names such as MD, PhD, etc.

My Debbie's title was, "An Exceptional Woman".

They are right.

Jack

Proud of Debbie

I'm very proud of Debbie. Tomorrow she will speak to 800 people about breast cancer for the American Cancer Society.

2Cr 1:3 NKJV - Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Wave to me, Debbie! I'll be in the back row watching with all my heart.

Jack

Things that go bump in the night

I was serving a client (handyman stuff again) and we began talking. During the course of the conversation with this elderly husband and wife it came up that she is a 7 year survivor of breast cancer. We shared some common experiences between her and Debbie and one that came up was the fact that every time there is a new ache or pain, the first reaction is, "Has cancer come back?"

It's strange to be living under that kind of shadow. It taints things in an unhappy and nervous way. I hope eventually we'll get over that, or at least manage it better, but in the meantime, it's another exercise in trust.

Pro 3:5 NKJV - Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Pressing on,
Jack

A Sound Mind

OK. I believe the Bible. It says, [2Ti 1:7 NKJV] - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So if I have a sound mind, where in the world did I place mine? It's around here somewhere, I just know it!

I'll keep looking,
Jack

If I Were a Rich Man

"If I were a rich man...Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum!" There once was a time when I was a rich man. Once upon a time I was well off. I could buy anything I wanted and I really did not worry about it.

Now I am a handyman. And happy. While it's not easy being poor, there are some definite perks. The biggest is that I perceive the world in a new light. It used to be that I did not worry about food. Now I am conscious that there's lots of good milk still in the cereal bowl at the end...and in that milk there is lots of good nutritional value to be had.

There once was a time when getting a good deal at a name store for clothes was great, but now getting a fantastic deal at the thrift store is a total victory in the day.

There used to be a time when buying a new tool was a nicety, now it's critical for my work.

And so far, God is providing for us. That's really cool. We're still not making enough for the mortgage, but I'm making more every day. I'm still looking for traditional work, but day by day God is providing something or other.

I feel good at the end of the day. I've worked hard and contributed to my family's well-being. And I've faithfully served my clients.

There is a promise to be had here:

Mat 6:25 NKJV - "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Mat 6:26 NKJV - Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Mat 6:27 NKJV - Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Mat 6:28 NKJV - "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

Mat 6:29 NKJV - and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Mat 6:30 NKJV - Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, [will He] not much more [clothe] you, O you of little faith?

Mat 6:31 NKJV - "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

Mat 6:32 NKJV - For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Mat 6:33 NKJV - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Mat 6:34 NKJV - Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.

We have not starved yet and He has more miracles to provide for us because the essential bills are many. But He is faithful.

He promised.

Jack

Prayer Crutches

Have you ever sat in your prayer time and just sat there...and sat...and sat...and sat? Pretty soon your mind begins to make up stories and day dreams. Then doubt sneaks in and says things like, "You've already prayed that before, don't do it again!" or, "He knows what I need to pray, I'll just sit here and count it as praying."

I've had the incredible experience to lead a prayer ministry for years and I've had incredible encounters with God during prayer and worship...times that I could almost literally touch His face. And yet, there I sit in the wee hours of the dark morning unable to utter a prayer.

While God may honor the time that I've committed, I doubt much is getting accomplished by my prayer, or lack thereof. In those times, which have become really quite frequent, I have found something very valuable: prayer crutches.

I have been sick enough physically to know when I need help, and I have learned to know the signs of spiritual fatigue to know when I need help as well. So these last months I have kept two wonderful books by my side during prayer and have prayed through them three or four times each.

One of the books said something which made great sense to me. It answered the question, "Does it really work to pray prayers that someone else has written?" The answer was, "Does it really work to sing praise songs written by other people?"

That made sense to me. Now I can take these prayers when I am stumped, and pray them until a part resonates with my heart. Then I can elaborate and expound on these points and I am back into a praying spirit.

The first of these two books is, "The Power of a Praying Husband" by Stormie. The second is "The Love Dare" by Stephan and Alex Kendrick. After reading both from cover to cover, I have subsequently gone back and simply prayed through the hundreds of Scriptures and prayer bullets and full prayers without going back through the text.

The result is sure. God works through prayer. And He works through other people and their works. I have seen more change in the days that I pray from these "crutches" than I have seen in hundreds of days of vague prayers caused by spiritual fatigue.

I encourage you, stay in prayer. Stay focused and pray earnestly with all your heart and from a place of selflessness.

Jam 5:16 NKJV - Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Jack