Helplessness of ministry

I retiled my bathroom over Labor day. At one point I had to make a quick run to the store. My three-year-old, Hadley, said, “I want to come!”

“Because,” she added matter-of-factly: “I will help you.”

Help me, I laughed to myself. This will definitely not be helpful.

But then I thought, isn’t this just like us and God?

There’s much to be done in the world. Stuff we see all around us. Yet, how much do we really contribute to it?

We can make noise, and move things around. We can even knock things down. But are we really helping?

And still, God has us busy working. In fact, he’s called us to work (Matthew 28:18-20).

It’s easy to forget how much of our work and results are really God’s work and results.

When we got to the store, I stood at the aisle thinking. Almost immediately, a little voice: “Can we go now, dad?”

“Just a minute…”

“Okay, I’m going to count the tiles.”

“Yeah, good idea.”