My child is frustrated.
He wants soooooooo desperately to read,
but is chafing over the fact that he is being
forced to first learn letters.
He does NOT want to learn letters,
they are such small things,
his heart yearns for BIG things.
Like sentences, chapters, volumes.
He is itching to dive into the adventures
encased within the tomes
his older siblings are consuming.
He is hungry for WORDS.
And I am wasting his time on letters.
His vision is BIG.
And he thinks mine is too small.
Have you ever been there?
Ever felt frustrated because you
wanted, needed, were called to something,
but instead of being launched
out into your dream,
you find yourself doing something that feels
lesser.
Take heart my friend. You are not alone.
You are instead in the throes of the painful place of training.
Yes, I know you FEEL ready.
But when the door has not opened,
it is because God is preparing you
for what you NEED.
Feeling ready,
rarely has anything to do
with BEING ready.
So take a lesson from the pocket knife and the ax.
Both are blades, wielded by a hand.
Both will cut wood.
God may call you to cut timber
while you still have only a pocket knife.
You FEEL the call and you answer it with a resounding
“Yes.”
But hacking away at an oak
with your pocket knife,
wearing out your arms,
exhausting your strength
may not be God’s plan.
Many times we are sent first to spend time
splitting fire wood.
Our heart is in the forest,
but it is in the smaller task of splitting logs
that we build our strength
and get the feel of the blade.
We are sent to practice on logs,
in preparation for the forest.
It can keep us from burning out
our physical strength,
hurting ourselves and others with wild swinging,
or giving up in frustration,
because our tools were inadequate.
It is ok to feel frustrated
splitting logs.
Split them anyway.
It is ok to yearn for the forest.
Yearn, but split with diligence.
David spent time protecting/feeding sheep
and leading/rescuing rag-tag outlaws
before he became king.
Joseph spent time learning to
run a household for Potiphar
and work with fellow prisoners
before he ran Egypt as Prime Minister.
So before you charge off into the forest
with the pocket knife skills you were born with,
remember this,
time spent sharpening your skills
with an ax,
is not time wasted.
Zechariah 4:10
Do not despise these small beginnings,
for the Lord rejoices
to see the work begin….
I
Thank you for reminding me of this.
Thanks sister coltharp for delivering what God would have you say at ladies retreat and also today. Like your son, I am eager to read volumes, but will practice patience another day. God bless!
So true. When I teach music lessons kids always want to learns SONGS while I'm trying to teach them boring notes, scales, and chords. I tell them if "I teach you a song that's all you'll be able to play a single song, if I teach you this other stuff you can play anything". The small stuff is what makes a way for the symphony.
Thank you. I needed this reminder.
Thank you for this great blog post!