The right tools and the temple…
With every job we take on, we ask ourselves: are we the correct tool for this job? If the answer is “yes”, then we move on to the next question:
Do we also have the right virtual tools in our virtual toolbox with which we can do the job properly?
If the answer is also “yes”, we will get to work.
If the 2nd answer is “no”, we’ll have a second look:
Could we buy, rent, learn that piece of virtual equipment to be able to do it anyway? And are we going to use that more often? Because it often literally costs money (take items that we use for therapy, for example) or time (a language study).
We only get to work if we are the right tools ourselves and have the right virtual tools in our virtual toolbox. Otherwise we do not start.
Why are we so “strict” about that?
We see a lot, of misery from people who took another approach. Compare it to a person who uses a hammer to smack some screws into a sheet of plywood to hide a leak. Yes, it “solved” the problem for a while, and it seemed fine and the customer was also happy. But it wasn’t really resolved, the misery behind that plywood turned was not solved, and now the house is flooded… with all the misery that entails. And then we stumble upon a “flooded house”….
In other words, we do it well, or we don’t do it.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
Colossians 3:23
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40
Deliver DIY “quality” for God? No way.
Look at Exodus 25–31 and 35–40 to see how specific and perfect(!) the requirements were for God’s tabernacle. Not only were the materials perfect(!), but the workers were also the very best (Exodus 31) and only the best of the best was good enough for God His temple.
And now it comes…. the people we try to help are described as follows:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
It is not just “things” that we do, not “just people” that we try to help, they are people made by God… and we are very careful with that, we want to do our 110% best, and we have to do that. Every day.
And yes, sometimes we try something, and it doesn’t work out. But the least we can say is: we consciously weighed it up in advance, looked at the tools, and did our 110% best. That’s the minimum we have to do. Every single day.
And yes, sometimes that also means that we have to say no, because there was no money for the virtual tools. We could do it, but we don’t have the resources. And that hurts. A lot…. That’s sometimes the hardest part…
