The old man had had enough of his complaining. So, he handed the young man a shovel and said, “Here is the solution to all your problems. Take this shovel and knock on every door you come to and ask for garden work.” The young man was not impressed. He instead turned on his heels, and went back to the job that he detested. His friend had had enough too. But he was less sympathetic. He said, “You enjoy complaining too much to be serious about leaving your unhappy state behind.” It wasn’t until he met an old school friend who was content in his business that he woke up to the hole of misery that he had dug for himself. He remembered the old man’s advice, bought some garden tools, and went door to door asking for garden work.
There is a lot more to this story that is peculiar to this young man, but the point is obvious. Even though the knowledge, the tools, and the doors were there before him, he had to go and knock on them before anything was going to change. Wanting is not having.
Too many Christians are busy digging holes of misery for themselves. They spread their complaints abroad, but ignore the knowledge, the tools, and the doors that God places before them. What is it about us that we often doubt God’s willingness to open doors during the hardest of times? Admittedly, what is best in God’s eyes may not be immediately apparent to us, but what we do know is that He calls us to knock, and he promises to open.
Like the young man, we may just have to ‘Get after it!’
John Staiger
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