Helping God Move the Pile of Dirt

“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13

There was a huge pile of dirt up against the fence and I wanted to move it. I grabbed a shovel and started slingin’ dirt. As soon as a bunch of my kids saw me, they rushed out to ‘help’ dad. They gathered up their plastic shovels and buckets, sand toys…I think one even tried to get on the end of a pic.

I kept digging away, having to pause every once in a while because one of my well meaning children would be scooping up a blue plastic hand shovel full of dirt…and then dropping it down the baby’s diaper. My oldest son had found a bug in the dirt and was on his hands and knees, obstructing half of the pile.

Babies crying, siblings fighting, and dad getting frustrated. Mom comes to the rescue and scoops up the kids and takes them inside, away from a mad dad who can’t accomplish the work in front of him because of these kids.

“I’m not like that.”

“No, Lord, You’re not.”

“You’re like that, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Lord, I am.”

“I allow you to be involved in what I am doing and aren’t you glad I don’t get frustrated with you when you ‘help’ Me, Josh?”

“Yes, Lord…sorry, DAD. Help me not to be like that but to be more like You. Thanks for letting me ‘help’ You in the work that You are doing.”

The kids ended up coming back out after I asked them to forgive me for being a knucklehead, and as I was leveling the last of the soil. The father had accomplished the work. And the kids ran screaming into the house…

“Mom! Look what we did!”

I am continuously humbled that the Lord counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, His work. And I look forward to the Day when we all get to run Home screaming with a joy unspeakable, “Look what we did”, with that childlike simplicity…knowing the whole while, in our heart of hearts, that it was God working in us, both to will and to do, for His good pleasure.

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