Today was a honey-do day. One of the tasks was a fairly easy refastening a shelf to a wall. But sometimes I find easy tasks ending up being not as easy as I thought they would be. Have you ever started a simple plumbing job only to end up making five trips to the hardware store and then surrendering and calling a real plumber? The challenge of today’s shelving task was finding just the right screw. I needed one that expanded when it was screwed in. Those aren’t so rare but I needed just the right size. I needed a Goldie Locks screw – not too big and not too little.
On my workbench I pawed through cans of shiny and rusty nails, screws, bolts, washers, etc. Surely I fingered through a few thousand such items when suddenly there it was; just what I needed. As I picked it up it must have been thrilled. For decades it had been overlooked. It must have despaired thinking it was quite useless and would never be used. Everything longs to be used. Everything needs its moment that justifies its existence. As I screwed it into the wall I remembered a somewhat disheveled man who we asked to help take up the offering one worship morning. He beamed. He stood two inches taller. He could not stop thanking me for asking. The next week he showed up with his hair combed and his shoes shined.
God has something special for each of us. Never despair. Never think you don’t matter. Never think your life is or was of no importance. God has a task just for you. Each day be available and someday whether you know it or not, God will use you for something no one else could have done. Oh how grand.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 14, 2016
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