If you have children, you have probably had this experience. Your toddler is fascinated by what you are doing and wants to help.
Can they help? Probably not. At best, they won’t hinder what you’re doing but help? Rarely does the help of a toddler make the task go smoother or faster!
As the months have passed and the renovation of the Teen Center progresses, there have been many times that I have looked at what needed done and tried to make sure everything is in order. Sometimes I’m able to get a few ducks in a row but most of the time I feel like I’m running just a little bit behind! Sometimes we are right down to the wire and there isn’t enough money, or sometimes we are trying to get ready for a work crew to come in and everything goes awry and I don’t even get close! There are days when I have great plans to accomplish a lot of work and nothing gets done at all because of all the unexpected things that come up.
I go to God frequently and ask Him to help me accomplish whatever I feel needs accomplished.
The other morning I was praying about all the things that needed to get done and reminding God of what I had to do. It suddenly hit me:
I was trying to do the work!
I realized that I was like that toddler who really didn’t know what I was doing but was still trying to help my Daddy with HIS tasks! I realized I was getting in the way more than I was helping.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I should just go sit on the couch and watch cartoons and expect God to get everything done, but I need to allow Him to work through me. I need to keep moving forward but trust that each step, each conversation, each hammer stroke, and each load of debris hauled away, are part of His plan.
If some stranger unexpectedly sees me working and asks what we’re doing and I spend an hour sharing the vision instead of working, that’s OK, God planned it.
If the day before a work crew comes and there still isn’t money to buy the materials I think we need to have on hand, that’s OK, God has different work planned.
I need to watch God at work with awe and wonder at how cool He is and how nothing ever stumps Him, and if He gives me a hammer and says “hit that board for me” I’ll do what He asks and not question it. And at the end of the day, I’ll realize that He is awesome at planning. Just being there to watch Him work is an amazing honor and privilege!
So now, I try my best to say,
Daddy, what cool thing do I get to watch you do today?
It’s so much nicer, not being in charge! God does a much better job!!!