I watched a video from a lady over at TheMomathon Diaries on Facebook. She so challenged me. I am a woman who also struggles with consistency in devotional and prayer life. Life, kids, work, let's admit it, we all struggle with it from time to time. I am way better than I used to be but have so far to go. After I listened to her video I decided to make a poster for my war room bulletin board. This is the image I found and will color and put on my bulletin board.
Then it hit me, it was just the one God wanted me to pick. It has a tool box. That tool box represents so much to me. First, God is working on us, refining us (like the story I shared on Facebook about the silver being refined).........yeah God is talking to me............letting me know........He's still working on me.
Anyway, back to the picture. The tool box also represents me. I have tools. Tools of prayer, of love, of the Word of God at my hand. I can choose to use them, or I can choose to let them sit in the tool box waiting to be used. I have to use them. I have to make the choice to be active in the use of those tools. They aren't going to just get up and do it for me. Our faith, it is an active faith, not passive. Yes, we are saved by grace and love but we have to walk, act and move in our faith for it to have an impact on others.
I have to say, God, I'm sorry for not using the tools You have given me like YOU have called me to do. Am I saying I don't use my tools? No, not at all. I am saying I don't employee them like I should, in a consistent manner they are designed to be used. Am I saying I don't read my Bible and pray, daily, NO? I am saying I need to be more proactive and not reactive as the lady said over at Momathon Diaries. It pricked my conscience that I need to build up my tool box. I am being transparent here and admitting, I don't always use my tools when I should.
That being said, I know there are more Moms, wives, women, men, teens, kids, and others out there that do not use their tools like they should. There are pastors and leaders that don't use their tools the way they are designed. I just think we are in such a time as this, like in Esther in the Bible, that we need to make sure our tools are in constant use. We need to keep those tools busy and we need to keep them strong.
My great grandfather was a carpenter. He kept his tools in pristine condition. His cutting implements were sharp. He kept them in a safe location. He oiled anything that needed oiling and so on. He was a master carpenter. His tools were important. If he didn't care for his tools they would rust. It is the same with our spiritual tools. We have to keep them busy We have to take care of them. We can't let them get rusty.
It is not a shameful thing to admit you need to be better or make changes. It would be wrong of me if I didn't take what God showed me today and do something with it. God wasn't bashing me, nor was He getting on to me. He was saying, hey sweet daughter, I know you love me. I know you do your best, but you need to step it up. I have told my kids that very same thing. Required more of them when I knew they could do more. That is what God is doing to His children. He is requiring more because we can do more.
I challenge each of us, to use our tools more, be more consistent. If you are sitting at a traffic light and you see people passing, pray for those people as they pass. Pray for anything and everything and everyone you can possibly thinking of. I can call to mind right this moment of moments I could have prayed that I let slip by. I will not let that happen again, to the best of my ability.
Our tools are helping build the Kingdom of our God...so let's get building and get those tools active.
Ugh
