"Purpose Matters!"

"Purpose & Dusty Tools"

Have you ever went looking for a tool you knew you had and just wasn't quite sure where it was? It had been so long since you last use it that it was covered in dust when you found it laying up on the top shelf of your storage building, maybe?

I was once helping someone scrape the walls in her basement and putting a water resistant coating on the brick to keep out the water. As I was moving things around to get to the walls in her laundry area of the basement I came across some things that looked to be as much as 50 years old. You know, the kind of things we all tend to hold onto. Things that hold memories from the past. Things that cause you to smile or chuckle without a word spoken.

As I was moving all these odds and ends I found myself tangled up in a conglomeration of spider webs that seemed to be attached to every single thing that I picked up!

I'm not sure if I had disrupted the spider playground but it sure seemed that way by the time I was finished moving the things against this wall!
I had those cobwebs all over my arms, face and hair! When I finally pulled the last shelf away from the wall, there lay a couple of tools on the concrete floor hidden away from view. They were maybe 30 or 40 years old, but still in very good shape. They didn't appear to have been used much at all! It's possible they were only used once or twice before being stuck away, hidden from view.

I picked them up carefully and thought, "What a waste"; as I brushed the dust off of the "Black & Decker Sander, model #7404-Type 1" and the "Stanley hand miter box" still in perfect condition. But there were some other tools that had been well used; well cared for, but it was obvious to see that they had many hours of usage just by the appearance of them. There was also another "Finish Sander-Polisher from Sears, Roebuck & Co., Model 110.2742"; a "Master Craft Saber Saw, Model 510" and a "Home Utility Black & Decker 1/2" Drill "that may have been one of the first drills they ever produced. It didn't even have a model number on it!

One thing that I knew though was that these tools had to of been used for the very purpose that they were designed and built for. They were not abused or missing parts. They were worn and showed evidence of many hours spent in the hands of the craftsman. I had learned that they were used by a man many years earlier for building furniture that now filled almost every room of this house. He had the tools and they were used wisely to create the masterpieces that would be appreciated and treasured by others for generations to come.

Were the tools that were put to their full use worth more than the ones that were rarely ever used? No, they were just as useful and valuable as the other tools, but they were left under the shelf and forgotten so they didn't get used to create much at all.

God has given each of us a purpose and something that only we can accomplish in this life. Have we stayed in the open where we can be used wisely by our God or have we become lost behind the shelf and find ourselves rarely used for the purpose that we were designed for?

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Have we become surrounded by the cobwebs of life? Those other activities and things that keep us so distracted that it is impossible to be used by God!

Now I'm going to get a bit more personal here but I just want you to think about it. Do you find yourself bored to death if you don't have a tv remote control, wii remote, computer, mp3 player, ipod or a texting device in your hands at all times? Is it possible that Satan has us so distracted in this modern age of technology that we are like the tools that were covered by the spider webs and dust but never were used? Do you want to look back on YOUR life one day and see that you served your purpose for God on earth? Just remember that the only time we really have is NOW! We are not guaranteed a tomorrow. If you or your children have been distracted from your purpose, begin today by cleaning out the cobwebs in your life. I know it's no fun to do that! I didn't like it either! They got all in my hair and all over my arms!

I like an exercise called thinking from the end. You go to the end of your life and imagine what you want it to be like. If you could have it any way you want to, how would it be? What would your family say or remember about you? What would you have done with your life? Don't put any limits an what you would do or what people would say! Once you have done this, think about how many years you expect to live. Now start from the end of your life having accomplished whatever your hearts desire was to have completed and begin to come back in time writing down what you will have to do every five years until you are back to where you are today.

It is amazing, but you will find that not only do you have time to do it, but you can envision the resources that you will need to accomplish this plan. It also helps you to find the reason for being and set your priorities in your life. I believe God speaks to us when we open our minds up to whatever God lays on our hearts!

The last thing you will need to do in clearing out those cobwebs is to push aside your ego. Your ego is everything that people told you that you could or couldn't accomplish while you were growing up; the way that you see yourself based on past successes and failures and your attempt to be the person that others want you to be. If you can, imagine pushing all of this to the side with one arm to the point that you can no longer see it. Once you have done this, I want you to say something to your creator and Lord! Simply trust in your Creator enough to say," From this point forward I am going to say "yes" when you choose to use me for my life purpose. I am going to say "yes" when the door opens in front of me, trusting that You are looking ahead for me and You are opening and closing the doors ahead of me! I will not doubt you Lord! I will not allow my life to be found one day left under the shelf covered with dust and never used for it's real purpose!"

"I choose to say "yes" when the door opens before me and I know when I start saying "yes" to my Father, that my Father will begin to say "yes" to me also!"

Your life will begin to show signs and wonders of the wise Master's hand at work in your life! You will be surprised at what your heavenly Father has already put into place and he people he has ready to be apart to the masterpiece that will be possible when all of the tools are available. You are one of the tools that are needed to create the masterpiece! Will you start saying "yes" to Him today?

That we might be able to say as Paul did in Phillipians, chapter three and verse thirteen,

Phillipians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let's pray,

Our Lord and Savior, we come to you today, a tool of your hands to be used for the very purpose that you have chosen for our lives. We trust you Father to open only the doors that you have chosen before us from this day forward! I will watch for your hand at work through the Spirit of God in my life. I thank you now for the things that you are about to do in my life. Amen.