Funny story, I bought a hammer from Harbor freight for a dollar one time. Who can’t pass up a hammer for a dollar? Especially since I was an Airframer during my time spent in the U.S. Navy. The AM rating badge has 2 crossed hammers with the aviation wings attached. We love hammers and use them daily. If you don’t believe me go buy a nice 10 pound dead blow sledgehammer and walk into the Airframes shop. It will take less than 10 seconds for it to be relieved from your hands. Often I found myself telling my shipmates to get a bigger hammer in a lot of the maintenance tasks we completed. So a hammer for a dollar! I’m in!!!
Well there I found myself, several weeks later, in need of a hammer. I was working on a vehicle, probably in a vain attempt to make it faster than my friend Kelly’s car. So on the first strike with the hammer, both claws broke off and one hit me on the cheek. What happened? My prized $1 hammer broke on the first blow. At its first use, it failed… It reminds me of the battle between David and Goliath. Both sides were sure that Goliath the Philistine was the most effective tool for battle and David, well he was going to get destroyed like a one dollar Harbor Freight hammer. So what happened was I chose an ineffective tool that wasn’t designed to the specifications of that job. It had not been hardened or tempered and was basically just a novelty.
I noticed the same correlation in my life at times. When things went wrong I would chose the wrong tool to battle the situation. Alcohol, marijuana, buy something to forget the pain, or friends that gave me comfort in all the wrong ways instead of leading me in prayer. I turned to the world and “cheap tools” for my comfort instead of choosing the correct tool for the job.
Whatever battles we are facing, whatever hardships are in our life, should not break us if we choose the right tools to fight the battle. Hardships are there to teach us and sharpen our blades for his kingdom. They are there to make us the most effective tools for his kingdom. Analyze your troubles and hardships. What areas of your life is God trying to strengthen? What tool is he hardening and molding you into?
Don’t be a cheap tool and likewise don’t turn to cheap tools when tuff times come. Turn to Jesus, turn to prayer, turn to a friend that will lead you to the right tool.
Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. (1 Samuel 17:8 NIV)
