For five days I had a tree lying across the front lawn, with no action on my part.  I know it was five days because they were counted out for me (if you know what I mean).  You see… the tree began in an upright position and was marked to be taken out because of its proximity to our home.  So I did what any guy would do… I attacked the tree.  During my all out assault on the tree, I watched my chainsaw slowly give up more than halfway through the cutting.  And after 2,356 attempts to restart my chainsaw, I decided to punt on that option.

I sat by the half cut tree and a few very poor options began running through my head, most of which would result in the tree falling on my house.  The better of my ideas was to wait for a logger to walk by with a working chainsaw.  After a half-hour of watchful anticipation for Paul Bunyan… no luck. That didn’t pan out.

I’ll admit that I even prayed that God miraculously send down a bolt of lightning that would mysteriously start my chainsaw… God remained silent.  Finally, I came full circle back to my first and seemingly best solution – go get the ax.  Yep.

How manly I felt… marching out of the garage with an ax, heading toward the tree that seemed to now be mocking me, half cut but still standing.  Full of machismo and adrenaline, I swung at the tree like Babe Ruth chasing a hanging curve. After a couple dozen (or seemingly hundred) swats at the oak tree, it finally began to creak.  One more chop… one more lean on the tree… and down it fell.  I had conquered the tree…but the job isn’t finished.  The fallen tree now rested comfortably on my lawn (as my wife reminded me daily – for a week).

Being a man of God requires that we do more than attack an impossible challenge.  The job usually begins after we overcome the obstacles – with clean up duty.  Too many times we try God on.  We accept a challenge that He has offered us and we attack it with conventional tools.  When those tools fail us, we are faced with the decision to give up or keep going.  And even after completing the task before us, there’s still work to do – which may require new and different tools.

Have you walked away from God’s challenge because the work was too hard or the tools weren’t working?

God has given you the capacity to get the job done, but sometimes tunnel vision sets in and it appears that there is only one way to accomplish His work.  You have to stay in the game and find different tools. The work may get harder, the sacrifice may be higher, but the result is still the same… you must complete the work God has set before you.  You must finish.

My tree was taken down… but it still laid on the ground.  Even after all the labor I invested to take down the tree… there was still work to do.  Just as with our life of faith.  We invest, we work, we sacrifice, but the job isn’t finished until every single remnant and reminder of transgression is removed.

I realized that cutting up an entire oak tree with an ax was not the smartest decision.  I can do it, don’t get me wrong (insert man grunt here)… but it’s just not the best option.  So I called in another guy for help.  He has experience and he knows how to finish the job the right way… with the right tools.

God calls you to the challenge, but He doesn’t expect you to do it by yourself.  There are parts you need to complete on your own, but you’ll need some help cleaning up the mess… trust me on this.  Don’t give up, put your back into it, and get some help from friends – God should get your best effort and sometimes you need to allow others to help.  Above all else… finish the job.
Download Article